Bengaluru: The Congress government violated police instructions before a stampede incident, thereby breaking the law, alleged Opposition Leader R Ashok, expressing his outrage.

Speaking at a press conference, he stated that if Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar had not engaged in a power struggle, students would not have lost their lives. Instead of consoling the families, they were focused on securing a trophy. The police had informed them of the first death by noon. Eight children had already died when the event began, yet the program continued, showing that these leaders have hearts of stone, he accused.

Police officers enforce the law. On June 4, Vidhana Soudha police wrote to the Chief Secretary, clearly stating that the event was organized in haste, and due to a staff shortage, security arrangements would be compromised. They had also recommended prohibiting the event. Ashok recalled that when the Speaker suspended 18 BJP MLAs, he had cited the rule book. Now, the government itself has violated the law, he charged angrily.

The police had instructed that department staff and their families should not attend, yet families were present. Instructions for CCTV cameras were ignored, and drones were prohibited but used. The government disregarded all these instructions. The directive to limit the stage to 20-30 people was completely violated, with 200 people, including 11 players, present on stage. Despite the event being listed as a government program in the order, CM Siddaramaiah claimed it was not a government event, Ashok alleged.

Despite such law violations, police officers were suspended in the end. Action was taken against officers managing traffic on the roads and even police station staff were suspended, he said.

Call for special session

People are questioning the government’s mistakes, and a special session should be convened to discuss this. Three inquiries have been ordered, but it’s unclear which one is genuine. A probe under a High Court judge is necessary, and we are all demanding it, he stated.

If the government is not guilty, it should provide ₹1 crore as compensation. We will all donate one month’s salary to the victims’ families, he announced.

Winning a trophy is not new. No such incidents have occurred when other state teams won trophies. No other state’s chief minister has gone to such events for publicity, he added.