‘They’re dragging Pahalgam attack, Prayagraj stampede into Bengaluru stampede’: Kumaraswamy

MANDYA: Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday demanded clarity from the Congress government in the state regarding its investigation into the stampede outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4. He also accused the Karnataka government of ‘dragging in’ the Pahalgam terrorist attack and the Prayagraj stampede to deflect criticism over its own failures.

“The government is making decisions every hour on the stampede issue. What will they do in the end? First, there was a magisterial and judicial investigation. Now there is a CID investigation. Finally, they will get the investigation report. What is this government doing? If any decision is made, there should be clarity”, Kumaraswamy told reporters.

#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

“The government is a complete failure…They are dragging Pahalgam and Prayagraj here for the mistakes they made. What is the connection between the Pahalgam incident and this?” he added.

#WATCH | Bengaluru | Karnataka State Cricket Association president Raghuram Bhat says, “…I had called an emergency managing committee meeting. Two of our members, the secretary and treasurer, have resigned on moral grounds. The committee has accepted their resignations….” https://t.co/rxS73Do3Dy pic.twitter.com/49F20vu33k

— ANI (@ANI) June 7, 2025

Earlier, top senior officials of Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), secretary A Shankar and treasurer E S Jairam, tendered their resignations from their posts, taking “moral responsibility” for the stampede that took place near M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday ahead of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team’s felicitation after winning their Indian Premier League (IPL) title by defeating Punjab Kings (PBKS) in a tight final on Tuesday.

As per ESPNCricinfo, the resignation has been submitted to the president of the board, Raghuram Bhat. Also in Bengaluru, CID officials paid a visit to KSCA office, with the state government having ordered a CID probe into the stampede case.

#WATCH | Bengaluru, Karnataka: CID officials visited the office of KSCA (Karnataka State Cricket Association).

The Government of Karnataka has ordered a CID probe into the Chinnaswamy stadium stampede case. pic.twitter.com/SCU7csez6d

— ANI (@ANI) June 7, 2025

The stampede left 11 people dead and several others injured. Communicating to KSCA on Friday night, both Shankar and Jairam wrote as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, “Due to the unforeseen and unfortunate events that have unfolded in the last two days, and though our role was very limited, but owing moral responsibility, we wish to state that last night we have tendered our resignation to our respective posts as secretary and treasurer of the KSCA.”

The Bengaluru police also filed a first information report (FIR) against the popular IPL franchise on Thursday. The police have said that RCB was not given permission to conduct the event at the stadium. RCB has been listed as the first accused in the FIR, along with DNA Entertainment, the franchise’s event partners, and the KSCA, which is in control of the stadium.

On Friday, the cops also confirmed the arrest of RCB’s marketing and revenue head Nikhil Sosale, while acting on directives of newly appointed police commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh, who took over after his predecessor was suspended by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah after the incident. (ANI)