‘Won’t let Bengaluru down again’: New police chief vows no repeat of stampede

Seemanth Kumar Singh, Bengaluru's police commissioner, promises to prevent future incidents like the recent stampede that killed 11.

In one of his first public comments since taking over as Bengaluru’s police commissioner in the aftermath of the tragic Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede, Seemanth Kumar Singh has vowed that such an incident “will not be repeated” under his watch.

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday posted to June 12 the next hearing into a petition initiated by it on the June 4 stampede. (X/@seemantsingh96)

Speaking to News18 in an exclusive interview, Singh, who replaced B Dayananda after the latter was suspended along with other senior police officials, said the police force is on high alert and determined to restore public confidence.

“Every day is a learning lesson for the police. This was a very serious incident, and we have to pull up our socks,” Singh told the publication. “All officers have been alerted and sensitised. In future, nothing like this will be repeated.”

The June 4 incident, which left 11 people dead and over 50 injured, occurred when massive crowds gathered outside the stadium for a celebratory event organised by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The crowd was reportedly spurred by social media posts announcing free passes, leading to a stampede-like situation that overwhelmed security and event organisers.

While inquiries are still ongoing into the causes of the stampede, Singh indicated that the focus now is on learning from mistakes and implementing course corrections.

To prevent a recurrence of such crowd-related disasters, Singh added that the city’s social media monitoring cell is actively tracking online trends, misinformation and mass mobilisation efforts. “We have a monitoring cell that watches out for fake news and responds quickly with verified information,” he told News18.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday posted to June 12 the next hearing into a petition initiated by it on the June 4 stampede. The court ordered Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty to file a reply in a sealed cover.