KOLKATA: Actor-turned-TMC MP Deepak Adhikari, better known as Dev, on Sunday stood by the police and the administration, amid opposition's allegations of crowd mismanagement at singer KK's concert, stating that such instances are witnessed at political rallies too.
Singer KK died of cardiac arrest on May 31 shortly after his power-packed performance at the Nazrul Manch concert here.
The TMC MP said that it is "out of love for the artiste" that people come to attend his or her programme in large numbers.
"If the police has to count the number of attendees every time, they will have to stop all rallies too, and not just the musical soirees," Dev told reporters on the sidelines of a programme here.
He also pointed out that COVID-19 restrictions on people count have not adhered too at political events even when the pandemic was at its peak.
"Whether it was ours or of others, we have seen lakhs of people attending rallies," he said, adding that "if that is right then calling out this programme alone is uncalled for."
Opposition BJP, Congress and CPI(M) had been criticising the administration for alleged mismanagement during the soiree at Nazrul Manch, with several leaders claiming that number of attendees had far exceeded the capacity of the auditorium.
Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had said on Saturday that there was "complete failure" on the part of those who were supposed to control the crowd.
Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal, on his part, had said that there was no shortage of space at Nazrul Manch during singer KK's performance.
Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday claimed that there was total mismanagement and complete failure by the administration at Nazrul Manch.
There should have been control over the number of spectators at the venue during the programme, which was held on Tuesday this week, he said.
"My heart bleeds. There could not have been more mismanagement. There could not have been more failure for the administration. There was no risk management system. There should have been control over how many visitors were coming (to the venue). Proper action was not taken during the crisis," Dhankhar told reporters at Bagdogra airport on his way to New Delhi from Darjeeling, where he was on a short trip.
City police commissioner Vineet Goyal had said on Friday that there was no situation where attendees were short of space at Nazrul Manch on that say.
He said that was not mobbed at any point of time and police arrangement was in place at the venue under an assistant commissioner of police well before the singer's arrival.
On overcrowding at the venue, he said the police have "clear video" in which people are seen to be standing comfortably and dancing.
KK died in the city on Tuesday night within an hour of his power-packed performance at Nazrul Manch.
There have been allegations that the air conditioning had not worked properly during the programme and there were about 7000 spectators, which was almost triple of the capacity of the venue.
Video grabs showed that the singer, who sang for a couple of hours at the fest of a city-based college, sweating profusely and complaining about the light arrangements there.
The post mortem had, however, indicated that had died due to a cardiac arrest and suffered from "prolonged cardiac issues".
It was also found that he had several blockages in the arteries and a major blockage in the left main coronary artery.
Kolkata Police have registered a case of unnatural death over the demise of the renowned Bollywood singer and started an investigation.