B'luru stampede: Govt appoints Seemant Kumar Singh as new city commissioner

Bengaluru: Shortly after suspending senior IPS officer B Dayananda, the Karnataka government on late Thursday night announced Seemant Kumar Singh as the new police commissioner of Bengaluru city.

As per the government orders, Singh has been relieved from his charge as the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Bengaluru Metropolitan Task Force, and has been directed to take charge of the Bengaluru city police.

Earlier in the evening, the Karnataka government came down heavily on the city police and suspended Dayananda, Additional Commissioner of Police Vikas Kumar Vikas, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Shekhar HT, Assistant Commissioner of Police Balakrishna and Cubbon Park Police Inspector Girish AK with immediate effect.

This follows the stampede at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday, where 11 people were killed and over 60 injured. The crowd had gathered at the stadium to watch the victory celebration of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), who won their maiden IPL title on Tuesday.

Singh, an officer from the batch of 1996, previously served notably as the commissioner of Mangaluru city, Superintendent of Police of Ballari and Dakshina Kannada districts, Inspector General of Police (Western Range), and as the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) of the erstwhile Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). Singh was also known for his humanitarian efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic, for providing oxygen concentrators to patients.