Senior IPS officer Vikash Kumar Vikash, a 2004 batch IPS, who served as Additional Inspector General and Additional Commissioner of Police, West, Bengaluru City, has approached the Central Administrative Tribunal challenging his suspension by the Karnataka government over the 4 June stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The petition, dated 8 June, names the Chief Secretary to the Government of Karnataka as the respondent.
The stampede occurred outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday, during a felicitation ceremony organised for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team, which had lifted the IPL trophy the previous day.
An estimated 2.5 lakh people had gathered at the stadium for the event. The resulting chaos left 11 dead and more than 50 injured.
The government held Vikash Kumar Vikash and four other officers directly responsible for the tragedy, alleging “substantial dereliction of duty” and that their failure to act directly contributed to the chaos. The others included B Dayananda, IPS, Additional Director General & Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru City; Shekhar H Tekkannavar, IPS, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Division, Bengaluru City; C Balakrishna, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Cubbon Park; AK Girish, Police Inspector, Cubbon Park Police Station
The suspension order further stated that the Commissioner of Police was informed by the RCB CEO on 3 June about the planned victory parade.
However, the police did not issue a written response denying permission, citing inadequate time for preparation.
Former IPS officers writes open letter to CM
In a separate development, a group of retired senior IPS officers have written an open letter to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, expressing concern over the suspensions and questioning the fairness of the government's action.
“Senior police officers including the Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru, who has an unblemished record of service and integrity, have been suspended. They were made the fall guys. There is a general impression that the police officers have been victimised while those, whose haste, over-enthusiasm, and reluctance to take a stand, contributed to the tragedy have managed to get away,” the letter, dated 8 June, reads.
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