The final decision to suspend police officers, including Bengaluru City Police Commissioner B Dayanand, is said to have been taken by a smaller group of ministers – including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, and Home Minister Parameshwara – after the cabinet meeting concluded on Thursday.
Published Jun 07, 2025 | 8:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 11, 2025 | 9:12 AM
The government has ordered the suspension of all senior police officials directly responsible for the security arrangements.
Synopsis: At the all-important cabinet meeting held after the deadly stampede outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, ministers in the Congress-led Karnataka government were reportedly furious with the police for purportedly not informing the government that permission was not given for the KSCA event, but instead choosing to give anonymous information to the media post-facto, thereby absolving themselves from blame.
Under fire for the death of 11 people, including children, in the stampede outside Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday, 4 June, the Congress government in Karnataka has suspended several senior police officials.
The seemingly face-saving decision to suspend officers, including Commissioner of Police Bengaluru City, without an investigation, has invited more criticism.
The Siddaramaiah-led government now faces allegations of attempting to pass the blame on to the police while refusing to hold itself accountable in what is a clear instance of collective failure.
South First has learnt what transpired in the all-important cabinet meeting held on Thursday evening, where the issue of the stampede and fixing accountability was discussed.
Even before the cabinet meeting, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar had expressed hurt over the tragedy, while other ministers like Priyank Kharge had acknowledged lapses in preparation, admitted mistakes were made, and took responsibility for the tragedy.
By evening, the cabinet decided to take stringent action and fix accountability, but their means of doing so was to attribute the incident to “dereliction of duty” by police officers.
At the meeting, the cabinet stressed that the RCB felicitation ceremony on the grand steps of Vidhana Soudha was seamless and went off without any trouble in the aftermath of the tragedy.
It was highlighted that the Police Commissioner or other officials had not raised any concerns regarding safety, security detail, or protocol.
The entire focus then shifted to the felicitation event at Chinnaswamy Stadium and the stampede outside the venue.
“The event at Vidhana Soudha is being criticised by many but it had all the permissions and necessary approvals. If not for the Vidhana Soudha event that led to staggering of crowds, more people may have gathered at Chinnaswamy Stadium,” a minister said, defending the government’s decision to felicitate a private IPL franchise on the steps of Karnataka’s seat of power.
The permission being referred to, however, was from the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) and not the police.
Police sources told South First that permission was not given to any event proposed by the organisers.
Home Minister G Parameshwara presented before the cabinet a note with a statement by Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayanand.
The note said that the organisers had ‘intimated’ the police about celebrations on the morning of 4 June, but no permission had been accorded.
Several ministers raised questions on whether there was a written denial of permission. There was none.
Nor was there any written approval from the police department granting permission.
The cabinet then held the police department – a professional force entrusted with law and order – accountable on primarily two counts:
Ministers in the cabinet were said to be fuming at the police for purportedly not informing the government or “higher-ups” that permission was not given for the KSCA event, but choosing to give unnamed, source-based information to media post-facto, absolving themselves from blame.
Several media reports since Tuesday afternoon quoted unnamed police sources suggesting that the department had advised against the event, suggested it be held on a different day, and opposed events at multiple venues, citing logistical challenges.
The news reports quickly set the narrative that the Karnataka government, especially Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar – who is also the in-charge minister for Bengaluru and who received the RCB team at HAL airport – pushed through with the events despite police advice against it.
The cabinet sought to know when and where the police advised against the event.
There was nothing – no opposition or advice against the events – placed on record.
Even as ministers in the cabinet insisted that the police only discussed the possibility of a victory parade with the government, police sources told South First that discussions on all events, necessary protocols, and associated challenges were held in a meeting on Tuesday morning in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, and Home Minister G Parameshwara and their representatives.
Among the crucial pieces of communication is a letter written to the police by K Govindaraj, Political Secretary to the Chief Minister, on 4 June, seeking “arrangements for grand celebrations for RCB team”.
A day after suspending police officers, the Karnataka government also decided to remove Govindaraj from his role as the Chief Minister’s Political Secretary.
The move is being seen as an attempt to distance itself from the controversial letter, but for the police, this letter was the fait accompli of the government’s endorsement of the celebrations.
Although the full cabinet discussed the issue, the final decision to suspend police officers, including Bengaluru City Police Commissioner B Dayanand, is said to have been taken by a smaller group of ministers – including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, and Home Minister Parameshwara – after the cabinet meeting concluded on Thursday.
Order copy of suspension of police officers including Commissioner of Police Bengaluru holds them responsible for dereliction of duty for not “giving written reply rejecting permission” to RCB’s “intimation of victory parade”. pic.twitter.com/UqXRit14Ix
— Anusha Ravi Sood (@anusharavi10) June 5, 2025
Several ministers admitted that the tone of the suspension order was unusual and surprising.
The cabinet, however, seems to have concluded that prima facie there was dereliction of duty from the police officials – from not refusing permission on paper to not informing the ministers and the Chief Minister of the situation that was unfolding outside Chinnaswamy Stadium in a timely manner.
Instead of transferring officials pending investigation – which is the usual practice – the Siddaramaiah government decided to suspend five officers, holding them responsible for the tragic loss of lives as well as for “embarrassing the government”.
Incidentally, the suspension decision came out of the same meeting where the cabinet decided to order an inquiry headed by Justice Micheal D’Cunha to ascertain what went wrong.
Whether the cabinet’s decision to already blame the five police officials and hold them solely responsible for the tragedy, even before an inquiry has begun, will influence the outcome of the probe ordered by the same cabinet remains a pressing question.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
