“Karnataka’s ruling politicians and cricket administrators are jointly responsible for Wednesday’s tragedy. Their greedy lust for reflected glory led to it. To make an outstanding officer a scapegoat is reprehensible.” -- Ramachandra Guha, Historian The unprecedented suspension of the Bengaluru City Police Commissioner over the stampede at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, that claimed 11 lives, has left the police rank and file across the State deeply disgruntled. While those in service are unable to give vent to it their anger, at least three former Bengaluru City Police Commissioners -- Jyoti Prakash Mirji, Bhaskar Rao and N.S. Megharik -- have openly condemned the government’s action and said the police were being made “scapegoats.” Where is preliminary probe? Mr. Mirji termed the government action “irresponsible” and done to “save their own skin.” “There was not even a preliminary inquiry conducted which found a prima facie lapse. How could a commissioner be suspended like this?” he questioned. Mr. Rao, now associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), took to social media and said this was the “darkest day in the history of Karnataka police” and said this was “the prize for telling the truth and slogging the whole night to keep Bengaluru safe.” Mr. Megharik said that the police were only a small part of the event and there were bigger stakeholders. “Mistakes may happen but this is not the way to deal with them. As IPS and former Commissioners fraternity, we are upset,” he said on Friday. IPS officers’ Association, Karnataka, was scheduled to meet on Friday evening to chart their next course of action, but the meeting was postponed at the last minute. Plans are on to meet the Chief Minister and register their protest at the decision, multiple sources said. One of the IPS officers suspended is expected to challenge his suspension in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). Sources said the police fraternity is trying to build a strong case to counter the political leadership’s allegation that they were not kept in loop about the event at the stadium and also to show how the police advice was overruled. Anger against political class A senior officer from the city rued that the political leadership first put pressure on them to hold a big celebration at short notice, overruling their advice, and later “betrayed” them as a face-saving ploy. “There is anger in the force even among juniors. How do we pacify or control them when our leadership has disregarded and unfairly made us scapegoats?” asked a senior officer. Another officer said that when things had gone wrong, they were being asked whether they had rejected the proposal for the event in writing. “If the default mode of thinking of officers becomes how to save themselves from the axe, it will be a blow to policing,” he said. Public support Meanwhile, the city police have been getting public support from citizens online. The campaign #IstandwithBangalorePolice was trending on social media on Friday. City-based historian, who has written extensively on cricket, Ramachandra Guha, took to social media and wrote: “Karnataka’s ruling politicians and cricket administrators are jointly responsible for Wednesday’s tragedy. Their greedy lust for reflected glory led to it. To make an outstanding officer a scapegoat is reprehensible”. Suspension has to be ratified by Centre The suspension of Indian Police Service (IPS) officers has to be ratified by the Union Government within 30 days and if they reject it, the suspension gets revoked, sources said. With the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (Secular) coming to the support of the police, claiming the Congress government has made them “scapegoats”, this procedural requirement may take a political turn, sources said. “Procedurally, the government should have conducted a preliminary inquiry and suspended officials based on the report. No such inquiry was completed before suspension. This may become a bone of contention,” a senior IPS officer said.