Mysuru, June 8 (PTI) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said that the stampede that killed 11 people outside the Chinnaswamy stadium shouldn’t have happened and he “didn’t have any connection with the cricket stadium”.

The CM also said, he was pained by the incident.

“This incident shouldn’t have happened, it happened at the Cricket stadium. I don’t have any connection with the cricket stadium,” Siddaramaiah told reports here.

The stampede occurred on June 4 evening in front of the Chinnaswamy stadium here, where a large number of people thronged to participate in the RCB team’s IPL victory celebrations.

Opposition is demanding the resignation of chief minister and deputy chief minister in this issue.

He said, “It was an unfortunate incident, it shouldn’t have happened. Such an incident never happened after I became the CM. Prima facie it seems to have happened because of the officials’ fault, so we have taken action. Everyone is in pain, including me.” Siddaramaiah said he attended the RCB team felicitation event in front of Vidhana Soudha on the invitation by Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA ) Secretary and Treasurer.

Asked about the allegation that the then Bengaluru Police commissioner B Dayananda was made scapegoat, he said, the Commissioner alone has not been suspended, five officers have been suspended, and the intelligence chief has been changed.

“My political secretary K Govindaraj has been removed. We have taken a series of actions, not the police commissioner alone,” he added.

On the issue of transfering Hindutva activist Suhas Shetty’s murder case to NIA he said, “DGP has spoke to me and I have asked him to consult advocate general after that decision can be made.” PTI KSU ADB