'Don't Want Compensation, Just Want Him Back': Man Seen Crying Over Son's Grave
Bengaluru:
A father wailing while clinging to his 21-year-old son's grave has become the grim face of a celebration that turned to tragedy in Bengaluru. His son, Bhumik, was among the 11 people who were killed in the stampede on June 4.
"I don't want the compensation, if someone can bring my son back, that would make me happy," DH Laxman, fighting back tears, told NDTV.
Recalling the sequence of events that day, he said, "My son left for college in the morning. From there, his friend and he went to the stadium. He called up his mother and said, 'I haven't seen the stadium yet. I am going there."
"The line got disconnected then. Later, we tried to call him, but it didn't go through," he added.
Mr Laxman also accused the government of lapses in arrangements during the IPL victory celebration of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) that attracted lakhs of cricket fans to the Chinnaswamy Stadium, leading to the stampede.
"The government knew everything; they knew the celebration continued till 11 pm, they knew the traffic situation, they knew everything. There was no need to organise the event on that day, but they still went ahead with it. There were not enough security arrangements. There was no ambulance facility. Which is why this tragedy happened," he said.
On Sunday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah insisted that the "government did nothing wrong", adding that he was informed about the incident around 5.45 pm.
"Though the injured were admitted to the hospital around 3.50 pm, I was informed around 5.45 pm that a stampede occurred near the stadium and people died. This shouldn't have happened -- it is deeply upsetting," he told reporters.
When Mr Lakshman was asked if he was satisfied with the compensation amount of Rs 25 lakh, he said, "I don't want the compensation. If anyone could get me my son back, that would make me happy. I don't know anything about it. I was in my village for my son's funeral. I returned today.
The haunting video showed Mr Laxman with his head pressed against his son's grave in his native village in Hassan district. "What happened to my son should not happen to anyone," he was heard saying.
As two men were seen helping him up on his feet, he refused to leave. "I don't want to go anywhere else now. I want to stay here too".
On Saturday, Siddaramaiah ordered an increase in the compensation announced for families of those who died in the tragedy from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 25 lakh.
A day after the stampede, the Karnataka government announced the suspension of five senior police officers, including the Bengaluru Police Commissioner.
The move attracted condemnation from the opposition BJP, which claimed the government suspended police officers to save itself. The BJP has also been demanding the resignation of Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar.
The Chief Minister has been accused of allowing the RCB to hold the event despite warnings issued by the Bengaluru Police.
Siddaramaiah, however, brushed aside the accusations and said, "The event at Chinnaswamy Stadium was not a government programme and he was not invited."
He said he was only invited to the felicitation event at the Vidhana Soudha where no untoward incident happened.
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