'Police Made Scapegoat By Siddaramaiah, His Deputy': Leader Of Opposition

Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka assembly R Ashoka has alleged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar were directly responsible for the stampede outside a Bengaluru stadium that killed 11 people. He criticised the top leaders of the ruling Congress party for allegedly making the police a scapegoat.

Mr Ashoka's charge came after the Karnataka government suspended top police officers of Cubbon Park police station and formed a one-man commission under a retired high court judge to probe the stampede that happened during RCB's IPL victory celebrations at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

"It was the police only who took all the injured people and the bodies to hospitals. The police gave first aid, did everything," Mr Ashoka told NDTV today. "Do hard work but get bad remarks in return. This is the government."

Mr Ashokha alleged the state government was fully aware of the celebrations scheduled at the stadium that can seat only 35,000. On whether the government facilitated the event, he alleged, "Yes, 100 per cent. But they are suspending only police officers because the case has reached the high court. The chief minister and his deputy want to escape from taking responsibility."

A first information report (FIR) was filed on Thursday against the RCB franchise, the event manager DNA Entertainment, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) management, and others. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has taken up the case.

The Karnataka High Court on its own (suo moto) issued notice to the state government and sought a status report. It listed the matter for hearing next on June 10.

RCB in a statement expressed profound grief and pledged immediate financial aid to the families of those who were killed in the stampede.

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said the government did not organise the celebrations at the stadium.

"We did not make any request to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) franchise or the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) in this regard, and they had organised the victory celebration event. The government also felt that it should felicitate the players and be a part of the celebration because it was a Bengaluru team. That's all," he said.