Cops made ‘fall guys’ over stampede deaths: CM urged to revoke suspensions

Bengaluru: A group of 30 retired IPS officers and a police think tank have urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to revoke the suspension of Bengaluru police commissioner and other officers over the stadium stampede that killed 11 people on June 4. 

In their letter dated June 8, the retired IPS officers noted that the local police had cited the lack of time to prepare for the humongous crowds bound to turn up for the RCB victory celebrations. 

“The police officials had conveyed in writing and otherwise about the danger of acceding to the request of the RCB/KSCA to organise the functions within hours after the final match. They advised the government and the organisers to defer the programme to the coming Sunday, by which time appropriate arrangements could have been made in consultation with all the stakeholders,” the letter stated. 

The letter added that no written directions were given to the police overruling their objections. “...The professional advice of the police officers was not heeded and the organisers went ahead with the arrangements, presumably with the tacit support of the government. However, senior police officers have been suspended. They were made the fall guys. There is a general impression that the police officers have been victimised while those, whose haste, over-enthusiasm and reluctance to take a stand, contributed to the tragedy have managed to get away,” it added. 

The letter asked for completing the judicial inquiry within a month and taking any action against the police officers after the findings
of the judicial inquiry are known. 

In a letter dated June 9, Indian Police Foundation (IPF) president N Ramachandran criticised the suspensions prior to the completion of a detailed investigation, noting that “actions taken without establishing individual responsibility would be seen as scapegoating rather than principled accountability.” 

The IPF urged the government to reinstate the officers pending the conclusion of the inquiry. It also offered to conduct a post-incident review and analysis — a non-adversarial, independent exercise, not intended for fault-finding, but focused on identifying systemic gaps, good practices and actionable lessons to guide police operations and training.