Bengaluru, June 5 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday announced the suspension of five senior police officers, including the Bengaluru Police Commissioner and DCP (Central Division) in connection with the to stampede incident near the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on June 4 which resulted in the death of at least 11 people.

CM Siddaramaiah made the announcement at the emergency press meeting held at the Vidhana Soudha here. The CM further announced the handing over of the case to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

He further stated that a one-man commission has been formed under the leadership of Justice John Michael D’Cunha, a retired High Court judge to look into the matter.

“It has been decided to immediately suspend the Cubbon Park Police Station Police Inspector (Girish A.K.), along with the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) of that zone (Balakrishna), the Central Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (H.T. Shekar), the Additional Commissioner of Police who was in charge of stadium security, and the Bengaluru City Police Commissioner (B. Dayananda),” Siddaramaiah stated.

These decisions were made after discussions related to this tragedy. The Deputy Chief Minister, Home Minister, and ministers H.K. Patil, M.C. Sudhakar, and H.C. Mahadevappa, along with CID officials, participated in the discussion, he stated.

“Prima facie, the irresponsibility and negligence of these officers were evident, leading to the decision to suspend them,” he stated.

The stampede incident during the RCB’s maiden IPL trophy victory celebration was saddening, and condolences were offered to those who died. This matter was seriously discussed in today’s regular cabinet meeting. Decisions were made after discussing yesterday’s unfortunate incident, CM Siddaramaiah stated.

Instructions have been given to take legal action and arrest representatives of the RCB franchise, DNA Event Management Company, and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA). An FIR has been filed against them, he stated.

“Such an incident has not occurred since I became an MLA, minister, Dy CM, and Chief Minister. This incident has deeply saddened us,” he stated.

The government is with the families of those who died in the tragedy, and we pray for peace for the departed souls, he said.

“The magisterial inquiry, as ordered yesterday, has commenced. After receiving some information about this major tragedy, it was discussed in the cabinet meeting. The investigation against the three organisations (RCB, DNA Events, KSCA) has been handed over to the CID,” he stated.

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday sought a report from the Congress-led Karnataka government on the lapses and other details concerning the stampede incident near the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, which resulted in the deaths of at least 11 people.

Taking cognisance of the stampede incident, the high court registered a suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and sought a report from the state government.

A division bench, headed by acting Chief Justice V. Kameshwar Rao, expressing concern over the tragedy, questioned the government on whether the Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) were followed and if adequate guidelines were framed to handle the situation at the Chinnaswamy Stadium during the victory celebrations.

Earlier, the Karnataka Police had registered Unnatural Death Cases (UDR) regarding the incident involving the deaths of 11 people during the stampede. The Cubbon Park police have registered 11 UDR cases, and no FIR was registered in connection with the development until now.

–IANS

mka/pgh