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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PM Modi is controlled by Donald Trump, wants to do the same in TN: Rahul Gandhi
Ranipet (Tamil Nadu) (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was being "controlled" by US President Donald Trump and that the PM wanted the AIADMK to capture power so that he could control Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.
Also, he claimed that the prime minister "handed out our energy security and gave away our data, besides selling our farmers and small and medium industries."
"You saw yesterday (in Parliament) the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi completely lacking confidence," Rahul said on the delimitation bill.
"He (PM) could not even face the opposition. He was sitting sideways. And the reason is, he is controlled by the United States. He signed the India-US deal that sold our country out," Rahul said while addressing an election rally here.
He further said, "Today, if Donald Trump tells Modi to jump, Modi jumps. If Donald Trump tells Modi to lie down, Modi lies down. Why? Because Donald Trump controls Modi fully. How does he control him? He controls through the Epstein files. He controls him because he knows Modi's financial systems and understands Modi's link with Adani," the Congress leader alleged.
Just as he was being controlled by Trump, Modi wanted to do the same to the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. "That is why he wants to put AIADMK in power in TN," Rahul said.
The Union government had rejected references to PM Modi in the latest Jeffrey Epstein case files, describing it as “little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal that deserves to be dismissed with the utmost contempt”.
