Bengaluru, Aug 12 (IANS) Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Karnataka Assembly and veteran BJP leader, R. Ashoka, said on Tuesday that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, and Home Minister G. Parameshwara should take responsibility for their involvement in the recent Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) stampede incident and a probe should be conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Speaking in the Assembly, LoP Ashoka said that if Siddaramaiah has any sensitivity regarding the incident, he should apologise to the people of the state.

“The Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister should take full responsibility for the stampede incident. Along with that, they should resign and a CBI investigation should be conducted in the matter,” he added.

“Furthermore, rules should be formulated to prevent such incidents in the future, and a house committee should be appointed. Justice should be provided to the grieving parents,” he said.

“Instructions about the programme were given from the Chief Minister’s office itself. The state government says this is not a government celebration. But RCB and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) have said that the state government invited them. This is also mentioned in the affidavit submitted to the court,” the LOP added.

Ashoka highlighted that the RCB in the court said, “We didn’t ask for victory celebration, government asked us. We sent players because government ordered us. We are just players who play under BCCI rules.”

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said that an FIR should be filed against RCB.

Ashoka also said, “The KSCA stated to the court that the FIR against them has been filed to avoid public anger against the government.”

Highlighting the negligence of the Congress-led state government, LoP Ashoka said, “On June 4, at 3:20 p.m. in Vidhana Soudha, when the programme had not yet started, 70,000 to 80,000 people had gathered near the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. If the stadium gates were open, people would have gone in and sat, reducing the crowd. Those who could not get seats would have returned. A senior police officer had given strict instruction on walkie-talkie that until the event at the Vidhana Soudha is over, none of the gates of the stadium should be opened. This caused the stampede incident.”

“Later, not able to control the huge crowd, the police lathi charged resulting in stampede. Who gave the order to lathi charge at such a time?” the BJP leader asked.

“Even when 70-80 international matches have taken place at the stadium till date, permission was not obtained from the stadium for any of the matches. Anyone can check on this surprising and shocking fact,” LoP Ashoka underlined.

“I have personally gone to the stadium to gather information. The key was given to the police by the Cricket Association. A senior police officer, speaking on the walkie-talkie, said not to let anyone in the stadium. Then, having no choice, when police did lathi charge, everyone fell and ran. If the gate was open, the accident would not have happened,” he reiterated.

Giving account of the tragedy, the LoP said, “At 3:34 p.m., when the programme had not yet started in Vidhana Soudha, Bidadi engineer Prajwal had already died. At 3:35 p.m., a message circulated on the walkie-talkie that some people were breathless. K.R. Pete civil engineer Purnachandra got caught in the stampede and died. At 4:36 p.m., a message came on the walkie-talkie that six people had fallen near Gate-6, and there was no one to pick them up.”

“Later, student Manoj Kumar, 13-year-old Divyanshi died. Then Akshata Pai, Chinmayi Shetty, Bhumik died. While the felicitation of the players was happening on the stage, Kolar’s Sahana died. Despite all this, there was no proper ambulance arrangement. Everything was communicated on walkie-talkie and all officers around the Chief Minister and others knew it. Yet, they turned a blind eye,” he added while hitting out at the Congress-led state government.

“If proper doctors and ambulance arrangements were made, such a disaster would not have happened. Even after so many deaths, the RCB team went to the stadium and celebrated. Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar also went to this programme,” LoP Ashoka said.

“According to Justice Michael D’Cunha Commission, 515 personnel were deployed. But only 194 signed in the register. Even when senior officials brought the news of deaths to the Ministers’ notice, the programme did not stop. The RCB team members brought the IPL trophy to Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar. Was it necessary for Shivakumar to kiss the trophy, hold it up and display it?” he asked.

–IANS

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