The euphoria of a cricket victory is often a city`s collective sigh of relief and celebration. For Bengaluru, however, the triumph of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL 2025 season culminated not in parades of joy, but in a tragic stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4. This devastating incident left 11 people dead and over 50 injured. Now, weeks later, a public report from the Karnataka government has laid the blame squarely on the shoulders of the very organizations meant to orchestrate the celebration: RCB management, their event partner DNA Networks, and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA).
The Unraveling of a Celebration
The government`s status report, made public following a directive from the Karnataka High Court, paints a grim picture of a celebratory event that proceeded with a concerning disregard for protocol and public safety. The core allegation is simple: the organizers went ahead with a massive public gathering without proper official clearances.
Consider the sequence of events:
- Police Rejection: On the evening of June 3, the KSCA CEO informed Cubbon Park police of a planned victory parade. The police, citing insufficient details and short notice—a crucial detail, as such applications typically require a seven-day lead time—rejected the proposal.
- Social Media Ignition: Despite this explicit rejection, RCB proceeded to post invites on social media at 7:01 AM on June 4. These posts, including a video featuring star player Virat Kohli, called upon fans to gather for a victory parade, igniting “unimaginable proportions” of online engagement.
- The Crowd Surge: The call to gather led to an estimated crowd exceeding 300,000 individuals converging on a constricted area around the Chinnaswamy Stadium, which has a capacity of merely 35,000. For context, metro ridership on that day saw a significant increase, indicating the sheer volume of people drawn to the event.
A Critical Misstep: Initial social media posts from RCB and organizers suggested “free entry” to the event. It was only at approximately 3:14 PM, well after the massive crowd had gathered and emotions were running high, that a belated clarification was issued stating that entry would require “limited pass entry (free passes).” This sudden shift, according to the report, sowed confusion, frustration, and ultimately, chaos.
A Cascade of Failures
The report meticulously details a series of procedural lapses that contributed to the disaster. It notes that no formal license was sought under the established Licensing and Controlling of Assemblies and Processions (Bangalore City) Order, 2009. A mere “intimation” to the police was deemed insufficient, especially given the anticipated scale of the gathering. There was no formal requisition for permission, nor was necessary information provided to departments that would typically prepare for such large public events.
Furthermore, the onus of crowd control was reportedly left to the police just hours before the event, an untenable situation for managing such an immense, unplanned assembly. Gates 1, 2, and 21, in particular, witnessed severe overcrowding and breakdowns in security, directly preceding the stampede.
Accountability and the Road Ahead
In the aftermath, the state government has not only pointed fingers at the organizers but also challenged an order by the Central Administrative Tribunal that revoked the suspension of IPS officer Vikash Kumar and four others. The government contends these officers failed to take adequate preventive action, questioning their inaction: “What was the officer doing? Did he take any action? Instead of issuing prohibitory orders under the Police Act, they proceeded with bandobast arrangements for the celebration.”
The CID investigation into the tragedy is now in its final stages, with senior officials from RCB and DNA Networks having recorded their statements. While a definitive timeline for the final judgment remains unannounced, the findings thus far underscore a crucial lesson: the responsibility for public safety in large-scale events cannot be an afterthought, nor can it be circumvented by the spontaneous nature of celebration.
The Bengaluru stampede serves as a somber reminder that even in moments of collective joy, adherence to safety protocols and regulatory frameworks is paramount. The passion of fans, while invaluable, must always be managed within the bounds of a well-orchestrated and permissible environment. A victory celebration, it appears, can quickly devolve into a tragic testament to the consequences of planning failures.
Dominic Ashworth