Bengaluru: The Siddaramaiah Cabinet Thursday accepted Justice John Michael D’Cunha’s report on the Chinnaswamy stadium stampede in line with its stand to go after private entities and its own police officials who it held responsible for the loss of 11 lives.
The decision has garnered widespread criticism since the government gave itself a clean chit while laying the blame on every other stakeholder who was part of the celebration, including the police that was only following its orders.
“The cabinet which accepted the report, we have decided that the action, legal action, as per law, will be taken against those private associations and also against the officers who are named in the report,” H.K.Patil, Karnataka’s Minister for Law & Parliamentary affairs, told reporters in Bengaluru.
He added that the report recommended taking appropriate legal action against IPL cricket franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), DNA Entertainment, three office bearers of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) and at least five police officers, including the former city police commissioner.
Thursday’s decision also adds to the strained relationship between the Siddaramaiah government and its police force as former city police commissioner B.Dayananada’s suspension was criticised by the opposition and the civil society at large.
The Print had reported that senior police officials warned the Siddaramaiah government against holding the felicitation for RCB at Vidhana Soudha.
Siddaramaiah even fired his political secretary K.Govindraj allegedly for insisting on going ahead with the celebrations and later telling the media the exact opposite.
But, the government has refused to own up any responsibility for the 4 June tragedy even as the victory parade for RCB’s maiden IPL victory was announced—and later cancelled—within a few hours on the same day, fuelling confusion and eventually leading to the stampede.
At least a couple of hundred thousand people had come near the Vidhana Soudha to be part of the celebrations and the same crowd was seen rushing to enter Chinnaswamy Stadium which has a capacity of around 40,000 spectators.
The Opposition continues to demand the resignations of Siddaramaiah, his deputy D.K.Shivakumar, and Home Minister G.Parameshwara.
Calls to the RCB representatives went unanswered. This article will be updated as and when a response is received.
DNA Entertainment Networks, the event management company responsible for organising the RCB victory celebration, meanwhile, filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court challenging the findings of the report.
‘Wiping blood off of its hands’
Apart from Dayananda, the panel mentioned the names of Vikash Kumar Vikash who was then Additional Commissioner of Police (West), Shekhar H.Tekkanavar, DCP (Central), C.Balakrishna, ACP, Cubbon Park sub-division, and Girish, 4.K. Police inspector (Cubbon Park), in its report.
Vikash has already approached multiple forums to challenge the suspension.
The police had flagged the government about shortage of personnel, lack of CCTVs and the paucity of time as it had to coordinate with other departments like traffic among others, the letter shows.
“Royal Challengers Bengaluru have a nationwide fan following. There is a shortage of security personnel and this could pose a problem since the event is being held in a hurry and lakhs of fans are expected to turn up,” DCP (Vidhana Soudha Security) M.N.Karibasavana Gouda wrote in a letter dated 4 June.
Arvind Bellad, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, told the media that 11 people died because of the government’s mistake. “The CM and the Deputy CM to cover this up suspended the commissioner and forced Govindraj to resign because of the high command’s pressure. When they ordered for the committee, we knew it was that they were covered in blood and this was an attempt to wash it,” he alleged.
He questioned how everyone, including an IPL team, the state cricket association, an event management company and even the police were at fault but the head of the government was absolved of any wrongdoing.
The BJP, he said, would bring up the issue in the monsoon session of the Karnataka Assembly, scheduled to commence in the second week of August.
Report findings
According to the D’Cunha report, the security provided by the police was “inadequate and ineffective” to meet the exigency. Only four pages of the report was shared with the media.
Most of the 11 fatalities and 71 injuries were reported at Gate No.7, 2/2A, 18, 20 and other gates were recorded.
“Out of 515 men and officers deputed for bandobust, only 79 men and officers were posted outside the gates to manage and control the crowd. Even these men and officers were not visible at the venue during the crisis,” the one-man commission found.
It added that the staff working in the control room failed to alert the security staff positioned in and around the entry gates, which contributed to the severity of the incident. Despite clear signs of overcrowding, it said, the exit gates were not opened in time, which was “a serious act of negligence” on the part of security authorities and absence of emergency protocols.
“One of the key contributing factors to the stampede was the improper and unscientific installation of the barricades and the narrow constricted entry gates. Misleading and last minute announcements created widespread confusion among fans and followers,” the report states.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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