Bengaluru Top Cop, Other Key Officials Suspended After Stampede: Siddaramaiah

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah -- under attack from the BJP over yesterday's stampede in Bengaluru at the felicitation ceremony of the  Royal Challengers Bengaluru that claimed 11 lives -- said today that his government has suspended top police officers involved. The police commissioner and his deputy have been suspended and the next step will be against the RCB, the Karnataka State Cricket Association and their publicist DNA Entertainment, Mr Siddaramaiah told the media this  evening. Seemanth Kumar Singh will now replace city police chief B Dayananda.

The RCB had apparently disregarded police advice to allow a few more days to prepare for the felicitation ceremony, sources had said. 

The police officers suspended have been accused of "substantial dereliction of duty". 

The government said today that the chief of RCB had intimated the city police chief June 3 about holding the victory parade and celebrations the next day. But the the office of Police Commissioner failed to give written reply rejecting permission on grounds of lack of time to prepare for such a huge event. 

"The RCB and the Cricket Association went ahead to tweet about the celebrations and inviting the fans to Chinnaswamy stadium without going through the usual practice of issue of tickets or passes. Despite, the knowledge of these developments and expectation of huge turnout of cricket fans, steps were not taken to either have the event organised systematically at the stadium or give adequate information to the public to take necessary precautions for their safety or provide additional Police force for appropriate crowd management," the government said. 

The state's Criminal Investigation Department, the Chief Minister added, will take over the investigation into the mishap that has shocked the country. The Chief Minister had ordered an inquiry into the incident earlier by a one-man Commission of retired High Court judge Justice Michael Cunha.

The Tragedy

The maiden IPL victory of the RCB after an 18-year-wait had been an emotive issue in the state and the people were desperate to attend the team's felicitation at Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy stadium last evening. The tragedy, which took place as the fans jostled to enter the  stadium, had left 11 people dead and  47 injured.

The state government had faced massive criticism of mismanagement. Initial inquiry indicated that contrary to the government's claim that the event was a last-minute plan, the RCB had posted on X, formerly Twitter, about the felicitation on June 4. 

The post said a "Victory Parade" would begin at 5 pm from the Vidhana Soudha to the Chinnaswamy Stadium, followed by the felicitation event inside the stadium. The post even included a link for free passes, declaring "limited entry" and requesting fans to adhere to police guidelines.

It created a logistical nightmare with the police force spread too thin on the ground, compared to the lakhs that had gathered. One estimate had said there were 8 lakh people at the stadium.

The security was stronger at the Vidhan Soudha, given the presence of the Chief Minister, his deputy and other leaders. But the flip side was that fewer cops were present at the stadium and proved entirely inadequate and unequal to the task of crowd control. So as the celebrations were about to begin, the people rushed to enter jamming the gates of the stadium. Barricades were toppled and many got crushed in the mad rush.

Action Taken   

So far, a police case has been filed against the RCB, the Karnataka State Cricket Association, and the event management firm DNA. 

The Karnataka High Court has also taken suo motu cognizance of the matter and ordered the state government to submit a status report on the stampede.  The government has been asked to provide the reasons that led to the tragedy and whether it could have been prevented. It has also been asked to provide a plan to avert such instances in the future.