Former IPS officer Bhaskar Rao speaking to reporters in Mysuru on Saturday.

| Photo Credit: M.A. SRIRAM

Former Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao sought the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, and Home Minister G. Parameshwara, holding them responsible for the death of 11 persons in a stampede during the celebrations of the victory parade of Royal Challengers Bengaluru.Speaking to reporters here on Saturday, Mr. Rao said, “It is their criminal negligence that led to the stampede.”Criticising the suspension of police officials, including Bengaluru Police Commissioner B. Dayananda, Mr. Rao called it a brazen attempt to shield the political leadership and deflect responsibility.The suspension of Mr. Dayananda and others amounts to humiliating the entire police department which, Mr. Rao said, was now demoralised as officials have been made scapegoats. They (officials) could have been sent on leave or transferred, but instead the government choose to suspend them, he added.The suspended officers could approach the Central Administrative Tribunal and challenge it, but they may not do so fearing political retaliation or loss of rapport with the political leadership, said Mr. Rao.He called for a judicial probe by a sitting High Court judge, not a retired one, and insisted that political figures must also be investigated.“Mr. Siddaramaiah comes across as a weak and timid Chief Minister in his second tenure, and one wonders who is advising him as he is stumbling and committing one mistake after another,” said Mr. RaoThe former IPS officer questioned the hasty organisation of the victory parade, held within hours of RCB’s IPL win, andaccused the government of trying to hijack the team’s victory for political mileage.“Did the government sponsor the team, select the players, or train them? It had no role, yet tried to bask in its glory,” he said, adding that such celebrations have traditionally occurred days after the victory, not immediately.“The government wanted to endear itself with the youth and seems to be in a tearing hurry to organise the event though it is neither the victory of the State or the country. It was after all a victory of a club,” he added.He accused the political leadership of bowing to pressure from the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the IPL to conduct the victory parade, and said the government is responsible for seven crore people, and not for a few organisations or individuals.