NEW DELHI: The Karnataka government on Thursday blamed the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) IPL team for the Chinnaswamy stadium stampede in Bengaluru that killed 11 people and left over 50 injured.
In its report submitted to the High Court, the state government highlighted serious lapses and mismanagement from the franchise in holding the victory celebration event.
On June 4, a tragic stampede occured outside the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru where aorund 3 lakh fans of the franchise had gathered to witness the celebrations of RCB’s first ever Indian Premier League (IPL) title win in 18-year history of the cricket tournament.
In the status report submitted more than a month after the tragic incident, the Congress-led state government claimed that the event organiser (DNA) did not take any formal permission and only informed the police about the RCB victory parade on June 3, for which the police denied permission.
Despite that, the RCB publicly promoted the event and even shared open invitations on social media, encouraging fans to attend the free-entry celebration, the report claimed, adding that they also posted a video appeal by cricket legend Virat Kohli.
"On 04.06.2025, the RCB, unilaterally and without consultation/permission from the Bangalore City Police, posted a photo at 7.01am on the official RCB handle on social media (Instagram, Facebook, ‘X’) informing that there is free entry for people and inviting the public to participate in the Victory Parade, which would commence at Vidhana Soudha and conclude at Chinnaswamy Stadium.
"A second post on Social Media was made by RCB at 8am, reiterating this information.
"Subsequently, on 04.06.2025, at 8.55am, the RCB shared a video clip of Virat Kohli on RCB’s official handle @rcbtweets on X, in which he stated that the team intended to celebrate this victory with the people of Bengaluru city and RCB fans on 04.06.2025 in Bengaluru.
"Thereafter, RCB made one more post at 3.14pm on 04.06.2024, announcing a Victory Parade to be held from Vidhana Soudha to Chinnaswamy Stadium from 5pm to 6pm, stating that this victory parade would be followed by celebrations at Chinnaswamy Stadium," the report stated.
The report further stated that the RCB franchise, event organiser DNA and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) failed to coordinate effectively and the mismanagement at the entry gates resulted in injuries to police personnel.
To prevent further unrest, the police permitted a restricted version of the event to proceed under controlled conditions, the report added. - The Statesman/ANN
