The Government and Delhi Police on Wednesday dismissed as motivated and “totally bogus” a video footage shown by an Australian TV channel to claim there was a security breach at the main Commonwealth Games arena at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium.
Reacting to the sting operation by an Australian TV crew, Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy, who heads the Group of Ministers (GoM) on the Commonwealth Games, said the incident relates to a period when security arrangements were not in place.
Mr. Reddy however assured all “foreign guests” that the 17 venues and the Games Village will be fortified and have as much “foolproof” security as at prime installations in the Capital.
“The incident reported in one of the Australian channels relates to a period when security arrangements were not in place. Security sanitisation was not in place. Security sanitisation is still on. From 24th morning, they will be highly foolproof,” he said.
Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said the sting operation was “totally bogus and incorrect” and the reporter was trying to create a false impression of security breach by walking from barricades placed on the main road near the stadium which were only meant to divert vehicles.
He said the spot was far away from the main entry gate of the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium from where the actual manual checking of those entering the venue is done.
“Such a sting operation seems to be motivated and deliberately planted in which the reporter does not even know that ammonium nitrate is a fertiliser and a known prohibited item for sale in India,” Mr. Bhagat said.
“At this stage, the reporter had not reached up to the checking point,” he said, adding, there is no security lock-down at the stadium. The reporter was detected at the perimeter where the security checks begin.
Security will be bolstered with additional deployments after complete lock down, he said.
In a ‘lock-down’, the entire venue is completely sanitised by security agencies and is sealed after a thorough check of each room available. The only time the seals will be taken off is when the Commonwealth Games officials or players enter these areas.
An Australian TV channel has claimed that its crew got past security personnel and entered the arena with crude explosives bought in New Delhi a few days ago.
Channel 7 journalist Mike Duffy claimed that he walked into one of the Games venues with a case of explosives which could have triggered explosions if fitted with a detonator.
The video footage put up on a website 3news.co.nz showed Mr. Duffy secretly filming the purchase of the case from the boot of a car in New Delhi. The video also showed how Mr. Duffy was even given a demonstration by the vendors.
