BJP leader R Ashoka urges CM Siddaramaiah to hand over stampede probe case to CBI
Bengaluru, Jul 19 (PTI): BJP leader R Ashoka on Saturday urged Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to hand over the investigation into the stampede outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium here during the RCB victory celebration to CBI so that the real culprits behind the incident are identified and justice is served for the innocent lives lost.
The June 4 stampede outside the stadium led to the death of 11 people, while 56 were injured, as a large number of people thronged to participate in the Royal Challenger Bengaluru (RCB) team's IPL victory celebrations.
In a letter to the chief minister, Ashoka, Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Legislative Assembly, said that this "tragic" incident, which has sparked a statewide debate, has become a "black spot" in the history of Karnataka sports. There have been accusations and counter-accusations between the police and the state government on this issue.
Citing media reports, the BJP leader said that the stampede occurred due to the police's failure in crowd management. However, the government has merely suspended a few police officials and "washed its hands" off the matter.
In connection with the stampede tragedy, Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda and four other senior police officials, including Vikash Kumar Vikash, were suspended on the charge of dereliction of duty. Later, Vikash moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) challenging the state government's June 5 suspension order.
The tribunal later quashed the Karnataka government's suspension order against Vikash.
Ashoka, in his letter to Siddaramaiah, stated that the tribunal, during a hearing on the suspension of one such officer, also opined that holding only the police officials accountable is not appropriate.
"The question still remains as to who are the real culprits behind this incident that has claimed the lives of innocent people. The people of the state are also seeking answers to the same question," the BJP leader said.
"Therefore, I request you to hand over this case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) without any political interference, so that the real culprits behind the incident are identified and justice is served for the innocent lives lost," he added.
Recently, in its status report on the stampede that was submitted to the Karnataka High Court, the state government blamed IPL franchisee RCB, its event management partner, and the state cricket association for ignoring standard procedures and safety measures during the team's victory march here, leading to a stampede.
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Iran reimposes restrictions on Strait of Hormuz, accusing US of violating deal to reopen it
Cairo (AP): Iran swiftly reversed course on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, reimposing restrictions on the critical waterway on Saturday after the US said it would not end its blockade of Iran-linked shipping.
Iran's joint military command said on Saturday that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state ... under strict management and control of the armed forces.” It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
The announcement came the morning after US President Donald Trump said that even after Iran announced the strait's reopening on Friday, the American blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the US, including on its nuclear programme.
The conflict over the chokepoint threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy after oil prices began to fall again on Friday on hopes the US and Iran were drawing closer to an agreement. Roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes through the strait, and further limits would squeeze already constrained supply, driving prices higher once again.
Control over the strait has proven to be one of Iran's main points of leverage and prompted the United States to deploy forces and initiate a blockade on Iranian ports as part of an effort to force Iran to accept a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire to end almost seven weeks of war that has raged between Israel, the US and Iran.
Iran said it fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels after a 10-day truce was announced between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. But after Trump said the blockade would continue, top Iranian officials said his announcement violated last week's ceasefire agreement between Iran and the US and warned the strait would not stay open if the US blockade remained in effect.
A data firm, Kpler, said movement through the strait remained confined to corridors requiring Iran's approval.
US forces have sent 21 ships back to Iran since the blockade began on Monday, US Central Command said on X.
Truce in Lebanon could help US-Iran peace efforts
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The ceasefire in Lebanon could clear one major obstacle to an agreement. But it was unclear to what extent Hezbollah would abide by a deal it did not play a role in negotiating, and which will leave Israeli troops occupying a stretch of southern Lebanon.
Trump said in another post that Israel is “prohibited” by the US from further strikes on Lebanon and that “enough is enough” in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The State Department said the prohibition applies only to offensive attacks and not to actions taken in self-defence.
Shortly before Trump's post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel agreed to the ceasefire in Lebanon “at the request of my friend President Trump,” but that the campaign against Hezbollah is not complete.
He claimed Israel had destroyed about 90 per cent of Hezbollah's missile and rocket stockpiles and added that Israeli forces “have not finished yet” with the dismantling of the group.
In Beirut, displaced families began moving toward southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs despite warnings by officials not to return to their homes until it became clear whether the ceasefire would hold.
The Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon reported sporadic artillery shelling in some parts of southern Lebanon in the hours after the ceasefire took effect.
An end to Israel's war with Hezbollah was a key demand of Iranian negotiators, who previously accused Israel of breaking last week's ceasefire with strikes on Lebanon. Israel had said that the deal did not cover Lebanon.
The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen US service members have also been killed.
