Former Top Police Officer Held Government Responsible for Bengaluru Stampede, Advice Cops to Ignore CM to Maintain Public Order
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 9: Even as the Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah distanced his government from the Bengaluru stampede claiming that he had okayed the RCB celebrations only at the Vidhan Soudha, where nothing happened, and not at the M Chinnaswamy stadium where 11 people were killed in the stampede, a former Bengaluru police commissioner Bhaskar Rao condemned the suspension of the police officers and held the state government responsible for the tragedy.
Mr Rao, who served as the police commissioner of Bengaluru from 2019 to 2020, said maintaining law and order was the responsibility of the police and for that if one had to go against the order of the Chief Minister to maintain public order, they should do that.
“I once had to disobey the Chief Minister,” Mr Rao said, recalling an incident when he refused to obey Siddaramaiah’s orders. He said he stood his ground even after the personal assistant of Siddaramaiah called him “20 to 22 times.” He was the Inspector-General (IG) of Police in Belagavi back then.
“An incident happened with me with the same Chief Minister (Siddaramaiah) when a person tried to die by suicide after consuming poison in front of the Vidhan Soudha (Suvarna Vidhan Soudha in Balagavi). He died in the hospital. The opposition demanded that the body be brought to the Vidhana Soudha. Siddaramaiah asked me to do that. I refused, saying, ‘If I do that, there will be chaos, police would have to resort to firing’,” he said.
Mr Rao was referring to the incident that happened in December 2013 in Belagavi during the Winter Session of Vidhana Soudha. “He (Siddaramaiah) said he would take care of any such situation. I told him you won’t be able to, it’s my duty as my neck is on the line. I was the IG of Belagavi at that time. His PA called me 20 to 22 times. I told his PA, ‘Tell your chief minister it’s not possible’,” said the former police officer.
He said he got the man’s body out of the hospital’s back gate, which was then taken to his native village without attracting attention. Mr Rao recalled being chided by Siddaramaiah for not following his order, but he insisted that he would rather “listen to your reprimands” than face a situation which could disturb the law and order.
“I had to disobey the Chief Minister. He reprimanded me. I said I accept everything. If I had done what was asked of me, the police would have had to open fire, and his government would have been blamed for it, and the whole system would have got messed up. I told him, ‘I would rather listen to your reprimands than face all of this’.”
“Politicians are mentally very weak. They buckle under pressure,” he added. He also had a message for the senior police officers: “You need to understand the integrity of the position they hold so that they are not taken for granted.”
The Karnataka government suspended top police officials, including Bengaluru commissioner B Dayananda, a day after the stampede in front of the Chinnaswamy Stadium during the IPL victory celebration of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). “The suspension of police officials is unjustified. This was done in nervousness to cover for their lapses,” Mr Rao criticised the Congress government in Karnataka.
He also said the officers should approach the court to challenge the suspension. “They should go to court because the reasons for the suspension are ridiculous. They (the Karnataka government) will be rapped for this decision. If they wanted to do something like this, they could have asked them to go on leave, or they could have been transferred. Why did you suspend them? It’s your fault, it’s your foolishness,” Mr Rao said.
“Whatever happened in the RCB event is due to the foolishness of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister. They asked you not to go ahead with it. They wanted it to happen on Sunday. No one does these events in the 24 hours of the match. They do it after two days,” he added. The tragedy led to a blame game after police said that they had flagged concerns about the event.
Meanwhile, Mr Siddaramaiah said the government was considering relocating the cricket stadium to a new place to prevent any mishap in the future. He said the government was contemplating long-term solutions, as part of which the stadium could be shifted to a new location.
“Such an unpleasant incident should not happen under any government. Personally, this incident has hurt me and the government. Five police officers have been suspended in this case. The intelligence chief and the chief minister’s political secretary have been replaced,” he added. He said the government has taken the case seriously and has also initiated appropriate action.
Siddaramaiah maintained that his government has not done anything wrong in the entire episode that unfolded since June 4. “This incident is saddening, but no misstep was taken by the administration. Legal action has been taken against those found guilty, so there is no question of embarrassment for the government,” he said.
He also responded to the criticism by Opposition BJP and JDS, and said, “Did the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh resign when people died during the Kumbh Mela? Did the BJP and JDS demand his resignation then?” Siddaramaiah further said his government had no role in the organisation of the felicitation ceremony of the players on June 4, when the tragic stampede happened.
“The Secretary and Treasurer of the KSCA invited me to the felicitation programme. It’s not a function we organised. It’s a function they organised, and I was merely invited. They additionally informed me that the Governor was to attend it. Hence, I attended the programme. Apart from that, I am not aware of anything else,” he said.
