Bengaluru stampede: CM suspends police commissioner, orders arrest of RCB, KSCA, and event firm representatives

In a major development, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday suspended Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayananda and several other senior police officials in connection with the stampede outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium that killed 11 people.

He also ordered the arrest of representatives of the RCB team, the event management firm DNA Entertainment Private Limited, and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), hours after an FIR was registered against them under various charges, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

The state government’s action came amidst an all-out attack by the BJP, which has demanded the resignations of Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivkumar, who accused it of playing “dirty politics”.

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Speaking to reporters after a cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister also announced a one-man judicial probe, headed by Justice Michael D’Cunha, a retired High Court judge of Karnataka, into the tragic incident. “We have told the commission to give the report in 30 days,” Siddaramaiah said.

“The cabinet has also decided to immediately suspend the Circle Police Inspector of the Cubbon Park Police station A K Girish and Assistant Commissioner of Police C BalaKRishna, Deputy Commissioner of Police of central division Shekhar H Tekkannavar, Additional Commissioner of Police Vikash Kumar Vikash, who is in charge of the stadium, and Commissioner of Police Bengaluru city Dayananda,” he added.

The Chief Minister said he had instructed the DGP and IGP of the state to immediately arrest the representatives of RCB, DNA event managers, and Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA).

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According to an official notification, senior IPS officer Seemanth Kumar Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Bengaluru Metropolitan Task Force, was “transferred with immediate effect and posted until further orders” as Additional Director General of Police and Bengaluru police commissioner.

The stampede occurred on Wednesday evening outside the stadium, where a large number of people thronged to participate in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team’s first-ever IPL victory celebrations.

The FIRs were registered following a complaint by a police inspector at Cubbon Park station, police said.

Charges in the FIR included voluntarily causing hurt (section 115), voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt by using dangerous weapons or means (section 118), voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt to deter public servant from his duty (section 121) and unlawful assembly (section 190) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Also on Thursday, Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner G Jagadeesha, who is heading the magisterial probe into the stampede, said notices will be issued to KSCA, RCB and others to join the inquiry while the Karnataka High Court, which took up the matter suo moto, directed the state government to file a status report into the tragic incident by June 10.

Earlier in the day, Karnataka home minister Parameshwara announced that the government will formulate a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for mega events, meetings, and celebrations to prevent any untoward incidents.

Meanwhile, the families of those who died in the tragic incident on Wednesday remained inconsolable and blamed the authorities for the stampede.

“Why didn’t they make proper arrangements? Go and see Mysore Palace Road – for political events, they arrange everything. For this celebration, they should have had proper planning. Intelligence should have been there,” said Shivakumar, the grieving father of 15-year-old Divyanshi.

Relatives gathered at the home of the grieving family in Bengaluru’s Yelahanka as the teen’s body was taken for the last rites, a heartbreaking sight.

The mortal remains of some of the victims, hailing from outside Bengaluru, were sent to their respective hometowns, including Siddapur in Uttara Kannada and Udumalaipettai in Tamil Nadu.

Stepping up the attack against the Congress government in the state, BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra in New Delhi said,“This is clearly the failure of the state government. The state government will have to own its failure. The chief minister and the deputy chief minister will have to resign for the death of 11 innocent people and those who suffered injuries in the incident.” He also alleged that the “mutual fight and rift” between the two led to the state “government-manufactured stampede” and asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to break his silence over the tragic incident.

Earlier, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar turned emotional while talking about the tragedy and said that Bengaluru has lost its image due to the incident.

“We are deeply hurt. The victims are our own family. The image of Karnataka, the image of Bengaluru…Yes, we take it (responsibility). We are not blaming others, though it has happened very unexpectedly,” he said.

Reacting to allegations by the opposition that police had not permitted celebrations, he said, " I don’t want to react to any of these BJP guys. I am only answerable to the people of Karnataka and the people of the country. All BJP persons are nonsense… They are also the masterminds of these dirty things." He also accused the opposition BJP and JD(S) of playing politics on dead bodies and said that the state government has taken full responsibility for the incident.

The state government also submitted a status report to the high court, informing that the investigation into the stampede has been handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). A Special Investigation Team (SIT) within the CID will be formed to ensure a thorough and independent probe, it said.