Bengaluru Stampede: Karnataka govt blames RCB management for crowd surge that killed 11; cites Virat Kohli video | Bengaluru News

BENAGLURU: The Karnataka government has held the management of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) responsible for the deadly stampede that claimed 11 lives outside the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on 4 June. In a status report submitted to the High Court, the state said the RCB management, along with its event partner M/s DNA Networks Private Limited and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), “unilaterally decided to hold the victory celebration without prior consultation with the police and without obtaining the necessary permissions or licence for such celebrations.”

The report, dated 12 June, was ordered to be disclosed by the High Court in its order on 8 July. The government also noted that the RCB had posted a video clip of cricketer Virat Kohli as part of its promotions for the parade and celebrations. According to the report, on 3 June at around 6:30pm, the CEO of KSCA submitted an intimation on behalf of DNA Networks to the Inspector of Police at Cubbon Park Police Station. The letter stated that if RCB were to win the IPL final that evening in Ahmedabad against PBKS, the team intended to organise a victory parade around the stadium. However, the police denied the request due to “insufficient information regarding the expected gathering size, arrangements made, possible bottlenecks, and the like, as well as the proposal being made on very short notice,” the report stated. Despite this, the next morning at 7.01am on 4 June, RCB posted an invitation on its official social media platforms announcing a victory parade from Vidhana Soudha to Chinnaswamy Stadium. A second post at 8.00am reiterated the same message. At 8.55am, RCB posted a video featuring Virat Kohli on its official handle @RCBtweets, in which he said the team “intends to celebrate this victory with the people of Bengaluru and RCB fans on 04.06.2025 after the team returns to Bengaluru.” Later, at 3:14pm, another post was made announcing the timing of the parade—from 5:00pm to 6:00pm—followed by celebrations inside the stadium. It was only in this post that RCB mentioned limited free passes were available at shop.royalchallengers.com. By then, however, crowds had already gathered in large numbers, the report stated. The government also noted the huge online engagement with these posts, with the first receiving 16 lakh views, the second 4.26 lakh views, the third 7.6 lakh, and the final one 17 lakh views. “It is pertinent to note that a mere intimation was given by the organisers; there was no requisition for permissions in the prescribed format, nor was any necessary information provided to the concerned departments to anticipate the gathering and make adequate preparations,” the report added. The state cited the Licensing and Controlling of Assemblies and Processions (Bangalore City) Order, 2009, to underscore the procedural violations.