New Delhi:
A sting by an Australian TV crew could just add to the woes of the Commonwealth Games' Organising Committee.
Piling on the embarrassment for the organisers of the Games, an Australian television news crew claims its reporter was able to enter the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium carrying a case for an explosives detonation without being stopped.
The Channel 7 journalist, who reportedly also filmed black-market explosives on sale near the Capital, walked into the venue carrying the case, capable of triggering up to 200 explosions, without any checks.
(Watch: CWG sting - Oz reporter sneaks in explosives)Footage broadcast on Monday shows the reporter walking into the cordoned off area with the over-sized, wheeled suitcase when a gate was opened to allow a police convoy through.
But Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy, told NDTV that the sting was carried out at a time when the security set-up was not in place.
"That incident reported in one of the Aussie TV channels relates to a period when security arrangements were not in place. Security sanitation is going on now. From the 24th morning, they will all be highly fortified. I can assure you, and through you, all our foreign guests that these 17 venues and CWG Village will be as fortified as any of our prime installations in New Delhi."
The Delhi Police has also termed the sting operation as "totally bogus, motivated and deliberately planted."
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," 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 when the seals will be taken off is when the Commonwealth Games officials or players will enter these areas. (With PTI inputs)