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The Karnataka High Court on Thursday issued a notice to the state government over the stampede outside Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium that killed 11 persons and injured 33, Live Law reported.
The High Court took suo motu cognisance of the incident and sought a “further status report” from the state.
The stampede took place on Wednesday at Gate Number 3 of the stadium, where fans had gathered to celebrate Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s victory in the Indian Premier League and welcome the team.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice V Kameshwar Rao and Justice CM Joshi said that the Karnataka government was being issued a notice to ascertain “cause of tragedy and how to prevent it in the future”, the legal news outlet reported.
The bench also verbally inquired if the state had any standard operating procedures for incidents of this nature.
The court remarked: “Are there any vehicles, which can be made available if such incident happens, which hospitals will the injured be taken? All this is to be included in SOP [standard operating procedure].”
The Karnataka government, represented by Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty, responded that the state has taken the incident seriously and will prepare a standard protocol for such accidents.
The matter will be heard next on Tuesday.
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday said that the state government will take responsibility for the stampede, The Indian Express reported.
“We are deeply hurt,” he was quoted as saying by the newspaper. “The victims are our own family…Yes we take it [responsibility]. We are not blaming others though it has happened very unexpectedly.”
State Home Minister G Parameshwara has alleged that Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Karnataka State Cricket Association wanted to organise the victory event and the government only facilitated it, India Today reported.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had also made this claim on Wednesday evening, saying: “It is not us. We didn’t make any request regarding the celebration to RCB [Royal Challengers Bengaluru] and KSCA [Karnataka State Cricket Association]. They organised this.”
The chief minister had also said that he had ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. He had claimed that 2 lakh to 3 lakh people came for the victory march at the stadium that has a capacity of only 35,000.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, meanwhile, called for Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar’s resignations, PTI reported.
“This is clearly the failure of the state government,” BJP MP Sambit Patra said on Thursday. “The state government will have to own its failure. The chief minister and the deputy chief minister will have to resign for the death of 11 innocent people.”
The Board of Control for Cricket in India distanced itself from the incident saying its responsibilities ended when the cricket tournament ended on Tuesday.
“Once the IPL final is over…BCCI [Board of Control for Cricket in India] has no role to play on what the franchise and the team go and do on their home ground,” the cricket body’s Secretary Devajit Saikia told The Indian Express. “[Royal Challengers Bengaluru] didn’t have to inform us or take our permission, and the BCCI doesn’t have to monitor them either.”
Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Thursday announced Rs 10 lakh compensation for each of the 11 families of the deceased. The team also said it was setting up a fund, RCB Cares, to support those injured in the incident.
“The unfortunate incident…has caused a lot of anguish and pain to the RCB family…Our fans will always remain at the heart of everything that we do,” it said in a social media post.
A first information report was registered at the Cubbon Park Police Station against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, event management firm DNA Entertainment Networks, the Karnataka State Cricket Association’s Administrative Committee, among others, ANI reported on Thursday. The complaint alleged that criminal negligence had led to the stampede.
This article first appeared on Scroll.in
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