Karnataka Govt. Blames RCB Management For Stampede At Stadium

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru team registered their first victory in the IPL 2025, defeating the Punjab Kings in the final on June 3. The victory was significant as it ended the 18-year wait of the team and fans were elated over the triumph.

On June 4, the RCB took out the victory parade in Bengaluru when a stampede occurred due to overcrowding at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and 11 people died in the tragedy. The Karnataka government held the management of the RCB responsible for the stampede.

However, netizens criticized Deputy CM DK Shivakumar requesting the people to come to the stadium for the celebrations and reminded that Shivakumar himself took part in the celebrations. Some questioned how could the government wash off his hands throwing the blame on RCB’s management.

In a status report submitted to the High Court, the Karnataka state government said that the management of RCB, event partner M/s DNA Networks Private Limited and the Karnataka State Cricket Association unilaterally decided to hold victory parade, without approaching the police and obtaining necessary permission for the celebrations.

The High Court, in its order on July 8, directed that the report, dated June 12, should be disclosed. The report mentioned the timeline of various messages posted by the RCB on its social media handles, and the shortcomings at every stage.

At 6.30 pm, the CEO of KSCA submitted an intimation on behalf of DNA Networks to the Cubbon Park police station Inspector of Police stating that if the RCB wins the IPL Final against Punjab Kings, the team would like to organize a victory parade around the stadium.

However, the police denied the permission citing inadequacy of information regarding the size of the crowd, info about arrangements, and other bottlenecks, along with short notice of the proposal.

On June 4, at 7.01 am, the RCB posted an invitation to the victory parade from Vidhana Sodha to Chinnaswamy Stadium. A second message appeared at 8 am. At 8.55 am, RCB posted a video featuring team captain Virat Kohli on its official handle @RCBtweets, in which he said the team would like to celebrate the victory with the people of Bengaluru, on returning from Ahmedabad after the final match. At 3.14 pm, another announced the timing of the parade, from 5 pm to 6 pm, followed by celebrations inside the stadium. RCB also said that limited free passes were available at shop.royalchallengers.com.

By then, the enthusiastic fans gathered at the stadium in massive number. The government also noted the views to the social media posts, with lakhs of views to each of the posts since June 4 morning. The report added that the organisers just intimated about their intention to celebrate the triumph but did not ask for permission in the prescribed format. Even the concerned departments were not informed about the size of the gathering and the necessary arrangements, the report said.

Citing Licensing and Controlling of Assemblies and Processions (Bangalore City) Order, the state government highlighted the violations in following the set procedure.