"Police were made a scapegoat in Bengaluru stampede": BJP slams Karnataka govt

New Delhi [India], June 11 (ANI): BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla on Tuesday slammed the Congress government in Karnataka for making the police a "scapegoat" in the Bengaluru stampede that left 11 people dead and several injured. He accused the Congress government of looting the people of Karnataka and making false promises to them.
"Congress party has only one thing to do with Karnataka, which is to take money from Karnataka and give inflation in return. In any other incident, including the death of 11 people, Congress does not have to do anything with it," Poonawalla told ANI.
"Congress has only made fake promises there and looted their money. And now, the scapegoat is being sought in this matter. Police were made a scapegoat here. The police mentioned that they are not able to organise this. If police denied it, then who overruled their decision? But now, the political leadership is just trying to find the scapegoat," she added.
On Monday, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, citing their "irresponsible and insensitive" handling of the crowd.
According to Joshi, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) had warned that large-scale celebrations within 24 hours of the victory would be risky. Despite this, Shivakumar ignored the letter and participated in the celebrations. The Police Commissioner had also requested to postpone the event due to insufficient manpower, but his appeal was disregarded.
"They (Karnataka government) have no moral authority to continue because they have suspended the Police Commissioner and other senior officials. The DCP had written a letter stating that it was risky to have such large-scale celebrations within just 24 hours of victory. The Police Commissioner meets the Home Minister on a daily basis, but on that day, he sent a message stating his inability to meet, citing his overnight duty following RCB's win. At 8:30 am, he received information that a huge celebration is being planned in the city. He immediately requested to postpone the celebrations since it is very difficult to arrange and deploy manpower at such short notice. The DCM ignored the letter of the DCP and personally went on to take part in the celebrations. I demand the resignation of CM and DCM," Joshi said.
Following the Bengaluru stampede that claimed 11 lives and left many injured, the Karnataka Government on June 5 suspended top police officials at the Cubbon Park Police Station and formed a one-man commission under a retired High Court Judge to probe the incident. (ANI)