IPL stampede: JD(S) leader demands withdrawal of suspension of top police officials

Janata Dal (S) leader urges State government to withdraw suspension of police officials after Bengaluru stampede, demands central probe.

Janata Dal (S) working president S.R. Mahesh has urged the State government to withdraw the suspension of senior police officials, in the wake of the stampede outside the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru recently.

Mr. Mahesh demanded a probe by a central agency.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Mr. Mahesh questioned the State government’s decision to make the police officials ‘sacrificial lambs’ for the collective ‘negligence’ of legislatures and executives.

He said it was not fair to punish the police officials, including Commissioner of Bengaluru City Police B. Dayananda, who had worked tirelessly till 4 a.m. the next morning.

Mr. Mahesh raised questions over the role of Intelligence Department Chief Hemanth Nimbalkar, the Home Secretary, and Chief Secretary in the circumstances that led to the stampede on Wednesday.

“What was the Intelligence chief doing? Did he give a report? Were the two programmes (one in front of Vidhana Soudha and the other at Chinnaswamy stadium) held even after he gave the report? What was the Home Secretary doing? What the Chief Secretary doing?”, he asked.

Mr. Siddaramaiah, who heads the Intelligence Department, was accountable for the lapses, he said.