Bengaluru Police Chief, Suspended Over Stampede That Killed 11, Reinstated

NDTV

4 days ago

Bengaluru:
The suspension of Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayananda has been revoked by the Karnataka government today. He is among the four officers who have been reinstated, more than a month after they were suspended over the June 4 stampede that killed 11 people.
The other officers whose suspensions have been revoked are Deputy Commissioner of Police Shekar H Tekkannavar (IPS), Assistant Commissioner of Police C Balakrishna and Inspector K Girish.
The state government had ordered a magisterial enquiry and constituted a one-man judicial commission, chaired by John Michael Cunha, retired Justice of the Karnataka High Court, into the stampede incident.
"Since, both the Judicial Commission and the Magisterial Committee have completed their enquiry into the stampede incident and submitted their reports to the government. The officers also submitted representations requesting to revoke their suspension," a government order said.
The officers have been reinstated into service with immediate effect, "pending the initiation of disciplinary proceedings", it said.
The ruling Congress government in Karnataka drew the ire of the opposition BJP for scapegoating the police chief and other officers.
Earlier this month, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) revoked the Karnataka government's suspension order against senior IPS officer Vikash Kumar Vikash. The tribunal observed that the police are neither "God" nor "Magician" to manage massive crowds at short notice.
The RCB had posted on its social media handles about the parade and the fan engagement on the morning of June 4, and the Tribunal noted that the police department did not have sufficient time in its hands to manage such a large gathering at such short notice.
"Because of a shortage of time on 04.06.2026, the police were unable to make the appropriate arrangements. Sufficient time was not given to the police. Suddenly, the RCB created the aforesaid type of nuisance without any prior permission," the CAT noted.
However, Vikash Kumar Vikash has not been reinstated yet, apparently because the matter is still in court.
The government had suspended the three IPS officers under the All India Services (Discipline & Appeal) Rules, 1969; while action against the ACP and PI was pursued under the Karnataka State Police (Disciplinary Proceedings) Rules, 1965.
Eleven people lost their lives after nearly 2.5 lakh fans thronged the MG Road and Cubbon Road areas near the stadium after Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) announced a victory parade and a fan engagement programme to celebrate the team's maiden IPL triumph.
Earlier, the Karnataka government justified the suspension of IPS officer Vikash Kumar Vikash before the High Court, arguing that the officer and his colleagues acted as though they were "servants of RCB" during preparations for the IPL victory celebration, leading to public embarrassment and a stampede.
Senior Counsel PS Rajagopal, appearing for the state, told the court that even before the final IPL match was played, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) had submitted a proposal to police officials regarding their victory celebrations.
Instead of seeking authorisation for such a large public gathering, the officers began making security arrangements without consulting their superiors or confirming the necessary permissions, he said.
Arguing that making arrangements for a massive crowd in under 12 hours was impractical, Mr Rajagopal questioned what proactive steps the suspended officer had taken during that time.