BENGALURU: The suspension of five top cops, including city police commissioner B Dayananda, in the June 4 stampede outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium has ignited a storm in bureaucratic circles: Has the state govt held the right people accountable or found scapegoats to douse public outrage?TOI spoke to several officers, including those suspended, who recalled the chaos on that day. Their accounts indicate where policing failed and lost the plot long before the crowd spiralled out of control.No anticipation, no contingency: Cops should have prepared a contingency plan after RCB qualified for the final. When KSCA sought permission for a parade if RCB won, police should have given a written reply, giving or denying permission. No plan was ready, no reply was given to KSCA.Didn’t restrain RCB on social media: When RCB started posting on a victory parade from 7.01am on June 4, police should have stopped them from posting updates on parade, passes. Cops’ silence turned RCB posts into an open invitation to fans – and tragedy.Didn’t express stand clearly: When a few IAS officers and political functionaries decided to go ahead with victory celebrations, the police commissioner should have clearly stated security arrangements can’t be put in place at short notice. “We aren’t sure if he was hurt since a decision was made against his inputs,” sources said. Even when the CM sought to know their opinion around 11am, the police chief reportedly did not directly brief the CM on likely security risks. The CM was in the dark on possible overcrowding and a stampede.No pre-emptive action: Soon after the meeting with CM, there was no directive to eight divisional deputy commissioners for deployment. Ideally, 500 personnel from each division should have been deployed across Vidhana Soudha and the stadium. Police underestimated the size of the crowd and failed to take pre-emptive action.Gate chaos: Police at the stadium had no clue on operational details, which entry gates to use and whom to contact from KSCA or RCB. When stadium gates were closed due to heavy crowds, police were not available to coordinate the opening or closing of entry points. One DCP had reportedly instructed his men to not open gates for public till he gave clearance. Traffic police reportedly lacked a clear plan on traffic flow.What miffed CM most: Sources claimed what annoyed the CM was police commissioner B Dayananda’s lack of information about the toll. The CM was in the dark even though the first death was reported at Bowring Hospital around 3.40pm. Even when the CM spoke to the commissioner around 5.45pm, the latter had maintained one death and the situation being handled. The toll had hit 10 by then. Not waiting for further inputs, the CM rushed to Bowring Hospital to meet the injured.