‘Another blunder of govt,’ Union Minister Kumaraswamy criticises suspension of IPS officers after Bengaluru stampede

NEW DELHI: Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday slammed the Karnataka government for the “blunder” of suspending senior police officers following the stampede in Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy stadium, claiming that while the police had warned about any possible mishaps beforehand but the state government went against the advise to use the IPL trophy for their image.

He claimed that after the incident occurred, the government blamed the police for its “failure,” but a failure of the police also means a failure of the state government.

“Yesterday’s decision taken by this government about the suspension of five senior police officers is another blunder made by this government. The entire fault lies with the government. To build their image by misusing this IPL trophy, both CM and DCM have taken their own decision, going against the advice of the police. After this incident occurred, the government blamed the police for this failure. Failure of the police also means the failure of the government only,” Kumaraswamy told reporters here.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party president BY Vijayendra told ANI that the police officers who have been suspended have been made scapegoats for the incident.

#WATCH | Bengaluru Stampede | Delhi: JDS MP from Karnataka’s Mandya and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy says, “Yesterday’s decision taken by this government about the suspension of five senior police officers is another blunder made by this government. The entire fault lies with… pic.twitter.com/Hc9h7LJ8mT

— ANI (@ANI) June 6, 2025

“Officers have been made scapegoats in the entire episode. The FIR that was registered yesterday clearly states that when permission was sought by RCB, KSCA, as well as DNA, it was rejected by the police department. Since the CM insisted on giving permission, permission was only given then. It was ultimately a failure on the part of the intelligence department, they could not assess that such a large number of people would gather. They could not assess the situation,” Vijayendra said.

He further called for the Karnataka Chief Minister’s resignation.

Following the death of 11 people in the stampede at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4, the Karnataka government has suspended multiple IPS officers, including the Bengaluru city police Commissioner, B Dayananda, replaced by senior IPS officer Seemant Kumar Singh, who took charge earlier today.

Apart from Dayananda, Additional Commissioner of Police Vikash Kumar Vikash, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Shekhar HT, Assistant Commissioner of Police Balakrishna and Cubbon Park Police Inspector Girish AK were also suspended with immediate effect.

Notably, Karnataka Police filed an FIR against the Karnataka Cricket Board Administrative Committee, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), among others, in the Bengaluru stampede incident.’ In response, KSCA has filed a writ petition in the High Court seeking the quashing of FIRs filed against it. (ANI)