Eleven people were killed in the stampede during RCB's victory celebrations.
The suspension of Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda over the Chinnaswamy stadium stampede is not "rational and justified", former IPS officer Kiren Bedi said on Saturday, as she joined a string of voices from the police association to condemn the action.
"Every case of law and order is unique. We need somebody who has to explain (what happened). He had to be heard. Did the commissioner ignore everybody? How can you just pick up the commissioner? It is unfair. He has not worked in isolation," Ms Bedi told NDTV.
"Any suspension which is not rational, justified, explained is demoralising for the entire force. This suspension order is taken like a fly out of a milk. You need to find out if there is a swarm of flies...," she added.
The former IPS officer said the people of Bengaluru do not even know who played what role in managing the crowd that had gathered outside the stadium. "He (Mr Dayananda) did not work in isolation. There was a whole headquarters, the secretariat and the political leadership involved," she said.
Eleven people - all below the age of 40, including a 14-year-old, died and more than 50 suffered injuries in the stampede that broke out at the stadium gate on Wednesday, when a large number of people thronged to celebrate Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)'s first-ever victory in the Indian Premier League.
A day later, Mr Dayananda was suspended for alleged dereliction of duty, and Seemanth Kumar Singh was appointed to the top post. Mangaluru City Police Commissioner Anupam Agrawal was also transferred and was replaced by Sudheer Kumar Reddy. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's political secretary K Govindaraj was sacked and head of the intelligence department, Hemant Nimbalkar, was transferred.
Four people, including an RCB marketing head, have been arrested so far.
The police commissioner is a part and parcel of the whole system that has either delivered or not delivered, Ms Bedi said. "If he is a part of the problem, then he is a part of the solution? How can you remove the solution?
She also said that a police assessment is very vital to understand the sequence of events that lead to such tragedies. "Their assessment is very vital to be heard in meetings held by people like the chief secretary... You cannot just pick and choose. It is an administration vs an organisation affair," she said.
Ms Bedi's remarks came as several of her retired colleagues in the association criticised Mr Dayananda's suspension and alleged the police were being made a "scapegoat" in the case.
Echoing similar sentiments, former Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao said: "Sacking a police officer like Dyanand is unacceptable. He and his team safeguarded the city all night and now, he has been bulldozed," he said.
Photo Credit: PTI
Mr Rao also alleged that the action was taken at the behest of Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who are like a "rocket without a tail". "It was their mistake. They brought the (RCB) team on a chartered flight. Mr Shivakumar thought he would identify himself with the youth. A police commissioner and his entire team being suspended is unheard of," he said.
He said the suspended officials can approach the Central Administrative Tribunal to dispute the government action since the police association cannot take up individual cases.
Sources in the police association alleged a clear violation of the law by the RCB and sought a thorough probe into the matter, "without any political pressure". "In the light of the facts available in the public domain, it seems the police have been made a scapegoat in this case to save face," a source said.
"The sequence of events show that everyone at the top level of the government was aware of the program. To say that the police commissioner did not consult senior officials is not correct," the source added.
