Former Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda has been appointed as Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) for Prisons, three days after his suspension was lifted. The posting came with immediate effect on Thursday, filling the vacancy left by retiring Director General of Police (Prisons) Malini Krishnamoorthy.
Dayananda was supposed to get promoted as DGP, but as the departmental inquiry is pending over the June 4 Bengaluru stampede, he will continue as ADGP.
The Karnataka government Thursday also lifted the suspension of Vikash Kumar Vikash, former Additional Commissioner of Police (West), who was responsible for stadium security during the stampede incident. Unlike other officers whose suspensions were revoked Monday, Vikash’s case was delayed due to a pending Karnataka High Court inquiry.
Vikash had successfully challenged his suspension at the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), which ruled in his favour and suggested similar relief for other suspended officers. The government has appealed this CAT decision in the high court, where proceedings continue.
Shekhar H Tekkannavar, previously Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central), has been reassigned as Superintendent of Police, Intelligence, Bengaluru. Additionally, suspensions were lifted for C Balakrishna, former Assistant Commissioner of Police (Cubbon Park subdivision), and A K Girish, former Cubbon Park police station inspector, though their new postings remain undetermined.
The suspensions were imposed immediately after the stampede at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, where celebrations were held following Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s maiden IPL title victory. The government’s suspension order cited “substantial dereliction of duty” that caused “misery, loss of precious life and embarrassment for the government.”
The government had blamed the police for ‘failing’ to implement adequate safety measures for the celebrations and for ‘not providing’ sufficient public information for necessary precautionary steps.