Siddaramaiah Increases Ex Gratia To Bengaluru Stampede Victims’ Families From Rs 10 Lakh To Rs

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday increased the compensation for the families of those who died in the stampede outside M. Chinnaswamy Stadium from ₹10 lakh to ₹25 lakh each. As many as eleven people died and 56 others sustained injuries in the stampede oustide the stadium, which broke out on June 4 during an event celebrating Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s maiden IPL victory.

In a separate development regarding the case, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) accepted the resignation of A Shankar and ES Jairam, secretary and treasurer of the governing body. KSCA president Raghuram Bhat on Saturday, however, ruled out dissolving the rest of the managing committee.

The resignations were accepted during an emergency meeting, which was convened after the two top officials stepped down from their roles, taking moral responsibility for the stampede. An FIR has also been filed against the KSCA in connection with the stampede that marred RCB’s victory celebrations.

“I called for an emergency MC meeting, as two of our members — secretary and treasurer — resigned on moral grounds. They placed a letter of resignation in front of the committee, which was accepted, after acknowledging the work they have done over the last two and half years,” said Bhat after the meeting here.

Siddaramaiah’s political secretary MLC K Govindaraj was also relieved from his post with immediate effect on Friday. “The appointment of K Govindaraj as Political Secretary to the Chief Minister is hereby revoked with immediate effect. Accordingly, K Govindaraj is hereby relieved from the post of Political Secretary to the Chief Minister with immediate effect,” an official notification said.

The Karnataka CM had also suspended Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayananda and four other senior police officials in connection with the stampede incident on Thursday.

Bengaluru Police on Friday arrested an official of RCB and three others of the event management firm DNA Entertainment Private Limited in connection with the stampede. Meanwhile, a complaint was also filed by social activist H M Venkatesh against Cricketer Virat Kohli, blaming him for tragic incident.