Police complaint lodged against Virat Kohli over Bengaluru stampede tragedy

A police complaint has been lodged against cricketer Virat Kohli on Friday in Bengaluru in connection with the stampede near Chinnaswamy Stadium during a felicitation programme for RCB, which claimed 11 lives.

The complaint was filed with the Cubbon Park police station by A.M. Venkatesh, representing the Naija Horatagaarara Vedike. The police have accepted the complaint, which seeks action against the celebrity cricketer. Venkatesh was informed that his complaint would be considered for investigation along with the FIR already lodged in this regard.

More details are yet to emerge regarding this.

The Karnataka Police, in the FIR lodged regarding the stampede, stated that the accused parties -- RCB franchise, event management firm DNA, and the KSCA Administrative Committee -- organised the victory celebration without the necessary permissions.

The FIR has been registered under Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 118(1) (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt by using dangerous weapons or means), 118(2) read with Section 3(5) (voluntarily causing grievous hurt, when the act is done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 190 (unlawful assembly), 132 (criminal force to deter a public servant), 125(a) (filing false affidavit), and 125(b) (rash and negligent acts that endanger human life) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Meanwhile, two additional cases have been registered at the Cubbon Park police station regarding the stampede incident. Based on a complaint filed by Roland Gomes, who was injured in the stampede and treated as an inpatient at a hospital, a case has been filed against the RCB franchise, KSCA, and DNA under Section 125(a) of the BNS.

In his complaint, Gomes said: "I saw the RCB post on social media and came with my friends to watch the celebration. It was announced that there would be a procession with an open bus. When I was entering through Gate Number 17, there was a huge rush, and my shoulder joint got dislocated.”

Meanwhile, a BJP delegation visited the Cubbon Park Police Station and filed a complaint demanding the registration of an FIR against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivkumar.

Talking to the media after lodging the complaint, BJP MLC N. Ravikumar said: “I demand that the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister take responsibility for the deaths and the ensuing chaos caused by the stampede during the recent RCB victory celebration in the city. If they have any morality, respect for the constitution, and democracy, they should resign.”

He questioned why innocent police officers, who did nothing wrong, are being made scapegoats, alleging that the police, including suspended Bengaluru Police Commissioner B. Dayananda, had advised against holding the event and suggested organising it after 3-4 days, but their advice was ignored.

He accused the government, the Chief Minister, and the Deputy Chief Minister of being responsible for all the chaos, the deaths of 11 people, and 50-60 people being hospitalised.

Ravikumar also objected to the government initiating three separate investigations.

BJP state General Secretary P. Rajeev alleged that the government's decision to proceed with the event despite the police department stating they couldn't manage security was an abuse of power. He questioned why public taxpayer money was spent on their victory celebration.

He claimed that even though the intelligence department had warned about a large crowd, the authorities gave permission.

BJP state chief spokesperson Ashwathnarayan, State Convener of cells S. Dattatri, District Presidents S. Harish, Saptagiri Gowda, Legal Cell convenor Vasanthkumar, and other prominent leaders were present.