A stampede at a football stadium in Indonesia killed at least 125 people and injured more than 320 after police sought to quell violence on the pitch, authorities said on Sunday, in one of the world’s worst stadium disasters.
Officers fired tear gas to disperse agitated supporters of the losing home side who had invaded the pitch after the final whistle in Malang, East Java, on Saturday night, the region’s police chief said.
“It had gotten anarchic. They started attacking officers, they damaged cars,” he said, adding that the crush occurred when fans fled for an exit gate.
Some local officials had put the death toll at 174, but East Java Deputy Governor Emil Dardak said the number of fatalities had subsequently been revised down to 125. The earlier figure may have included duplicate fatalities, he said.
An East Java police spokesperson said 323 people were injured, up from the initial count of 180.
The stadium disaster appeared to be the world’s worst in decades.
Video footage from local news channels showed fans streaming onto the pitch after Arema FC lost 3-2 to Persebaya Surabaya around 10 p.m., followed by scuffles, and what appeared to be clouds of tear gas and unconscious fans being carried out of the venue.
Many victims at the nearby Kanjuruhan hospital suffered from trauma, shortness of breath and a lack of oxygen due to the large number of people at the scene affected by tear gas, said paramedic Boby Prabowo.
The head of another hospital in the area told Metro TV that some victims had sustained brain injuries and that the fatalities included a five-year-old.
President Joko Widodo said the authorities must thoroughly evaluate security at matches, adding that he hoped this would be “the last soccer tragedy in the nation”.
Jokowi, as the President is known, ordered the Football Association of Indonesia, the PSSI, to suspend all games in the top league BRI Liga 1 until an investigation had been completed.
Policeman killed, CRPF jawan injured in Pulwama militant attack
A policeman was killed and a CRPF jawan injured when militants attacked a security forces team in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, officials said.
The attack took place in Pinglana area of the south Kashmir district.
"Terrorists fired upon a joint Naka party of CRPF & police at Pinglana, Pulwama. In this terror attack, 01 police personnel got martyred & 01 CRPF personnel got injured," Kashmir Zone police said in a tweet.
Security personnel stand guard after militants attacked a security forces team in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on October 2, 2022. | Photo Credit: PTI
The police said reinforcements were rushed to the area and a search operation was launched.
A police spokesman identified the slain policeman as Javid Ahmad Dar. He also said the injured CRPF jawan was evacuated to a hospital for treatment.
Senior police officers, along with reinforcement, reached the spot, the spokesman added.
"We pay our rich tributes to the martyr for his supreme sacrifice made in the line of duty. We stand by the family of the martyr at this crucial juncture and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured personnel," the spokesperson said.
Police have registered a case, the investigation is in progress and officers are working to establish the full circumstances of this terror crime, he said, adding the area has been cordoned off and a search is going on there.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and political parties condemned the attack.
Maharashtra CM’s security beefed up as intelligence department receives alleged threat
Security has been beefed up outside Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s official and private residences after Mumbai police received inputs regarding an alleged threat to Mr. Shinde’s life.
Meeting of top Mumbai police authorities is underway while Crime Branch officials and other agencies are also probing the call.
The State Intelligence Department (SID) on Saturday evening received specific input about the alleged threat to the life of CM Shinde, an official said. State Intelligence Commissioner Ashutosh Dumbre confirmed the threat.
“After specific information, we have taken necessary action and have increased the security of the chief minister,” Mr. Dumbre told PTI without elaborating.
Additional security has been provided to the CM, who enjoys a Z-plus category security cover, he said.
Security has also been stepped up at Mr. Shinde’s private residence in Thane and the official residence ‘Varsha’ in Mumbai, he said.
Mr. Shinde is scheduled to address his first Dussehra rally at MMRDA grounds in Mumbai on October 5.
PUCL report alleges abuse of UAPA
The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) released a report titled ‘UAPA: Criminalising Dissent and State Terror’ on the alleged abuse of the legislation during 2009-22, and demanding the law be repealed.
Based on the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) annual reports during 2015-2020, the study said the per case conviction rate under the UAPA was 27.57% compared with 49.67% in Indian Penal Code (IPC) cases. The per-arrestee conviction rate was just 2.8% against 22.19% in IPC cases. During the check period, 5,924 cases were registered and 8,371 persons arrested.
Based on the total cases registered, Manipur (1,965 cases) stood at the top followed by Jammu & Kashmir (1,163), Assam (923), Jharkhand (501), and Uttar Pradesh (385 cases).
The report said at the heart of “abuse” of UAPA was the issue of bail and conviction rates. “The problem with considering the NCRB figures of number of persons acquitted or convicted is that they probably refer to UAPA cases registered in previous years and not to cases filed in the respective years alone; this is because acquittals and convictions arise only at the end of the criminal trial before the special court...,” it said.
In 2018, of the 1,421 arrests were made and 232 (16.32%) got bail; while in the next year 1,948 were arrested and 625 (32.08%) were granted bail; and in 2020, a total of 1,321 arrests were made and 223 (16.88%) got bail.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), on its website as on August 12 this year, had listed 456 cases of which 78% involved UAPA charges. The report examined the NIA prosecutions in the UPA and the NDA period. “69 UAPA cases were registered...when the Manmohan Singh-led UPA regime was in power (2009 to May 2014), whereas 288 UAPA cases were registered in the Narendra Modi-led era (May 2014 to continuing),” said the report.
The average number of cases per year during the UPA regime was 13, whereas it was 34 during the NDA regime. Overall, the maximum number of cases have been registered so far in Delhi (45), followed by Jammu and Kashmir (42), Punjab (29), Kerala (27), Assam (26), Jharkhand (22), Bihar (18), Manipur (18), Maharashtra (16), West Bengal (15), Uttar Pradesh (14), Karnataka (13), Tamil Nadu (13), Andhra Pradesh (12), and Nagaland (7).
The report said that of the 238 cases involving Section 18 (punishment for conspiracy, etc.) charge, no incident has been reported in 64% of the cases (152 cases). It said the NIA’s “suo motu power” (through the Central government/Ministry of Home Affairs) to transfer investigation from the State police was a “serious threat to federalism”.
On the basis of the information available on the NIA website, the report said of all the UAPA cases handled by the agency, 41 (12%) were registered suo motu, whereas 316 cases representing 88% of cases were transferred from the State investigating agencies to the NIA. “It is a moot question as to whether the State governments were consulted or they agreed to these transfers,” it said.
“...A close look at the lives of the victims of State abuse-Muslim minority, Dalit-Bahujan-Adivasis, activists, journalists, academicians, human rights defenders and students - reveals the immensity of the human, emotional, financial suffering experienced not just by those falsely implicated but also by their families,” the report said.
The report also sought repeal of the NIA Act and disbanding of the agency; immediate release of all political prisoners, on bail; action against all the police officials “who have wilfully launched false and fabricated cases against the marginalised communities, journalists, academicians, students and others” and action to provide reparations for those wrongfully accused and released by courts.
Entered president race to strengthen Congress, says Mallikarjun Kharge
Congress presidential candidate Mallikarjun Kharge said he has not entered the polls to oppose anyone but to strengthen the party. He also said he entered the polls after senior and young leaders alike urged him to enter the fray.
He said that in line with 'one person, one post' principle of the party, he resigned as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha on the day he filed the nomination.
There is unemployment, inflation is rising, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening, and all promises of the BJP remain unfulfilled, Kharge said at a press conference flanked by Congress’ Deepender Hooda, Syed Naseer Hussain and Gourav Vallabh.
Asked about Shashi Tharoor's remarks that he is a candidate for change while Kharge is a candidate of continuity and status quo, Kharge said after polls any decision for reform will be taken jointly and not by one person.
He also rejected suggestions that the Gandhi family was backing him, saying he was urged by other leaders to contest.
In Brief:
Russia attacked the Ukrainian President’s hometown with suicide drones on Sunday as Ukraine pushed ahead with its counteroffensive after taking back control of a strategic eastern city. In southern Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown Krivyi Rih came under Russian attack by a suicide drone that struck a school early Sunday and destroyed two stories of it, said Valentyn Reznichenko, the governor of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region. Russia’s loss of Lyman, which it had been using as a transport and logistics hub, is a new blow to the Kremlin as it seeks to escalate the war by illegally annexing four regions of Ukraine. “The Ukrainian flag is already in Lyman,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address. “Over the past week, there have been more Ukrainian flags in the Donbas. In a week there will be even more.”
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
