Ex-KSRP staffer 'mastermind' behind Saturday's blasts

The suspect is from a coastal district in the State, and his name is said to begin with “S.” He is learnt to have served in the bomb detection and disposal squad for sometime before taking voluntary retirement, highly placed sources told Deccan Herald.

Nearly a dozen people, most of them living within a radius of five kilometres of the stadium, were involved in the incident. Having already questioned nearly 70 people, the police are likely to regularise the arrest of the suspects within 24 hours.

The case will be detected before the semi-final match in Navi Mumbai, police sources claimed. A few local jihadi elements, supported by external forces, are also said to be behind the incident.

The bombs were intended to create panic and trigger a stampede once they went off, added the sources. On the blast day, the police had gathered a vital lead based on CCTV footages. They conducted anti-sabotage and anti-missile checkups to ascertain the identity of those involved.

The blasts were, however, not directly linked to the Bangalore serial blasts in 2008.
All the suspects are expected to be booked, but whether they will be convicted is not clear. It has become a prestige issue for the State government as well as the Bangalore City police.

Many of the suspects were in their late 20s or early 30s. They had studied the route map of the stadium, taking their own time to execute the plan. It is also said that a few of them had watched some matches inside the venue to analyse the situation, added the sources.