Karnataka govt report to HC on Chinnaswamy stampede blames RCB for excessive turnout

BENGALURU: The Karnataka government submitted a status report to the High Court on Thursday on the Chinnaswamy stadium stampede in Bengaluru that claimed 11 lives and left over 50 people injured. In its report, it has pointed to serious lapses and mismanagement from the IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

According to the state government, no formal permission was taken from the event organiser (DNA Networks), merely informing the police about the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) victory parade on June 3 without seeking formal approval as mandated by the 2009 city order. Consequently, the police denied permission.

Despite police denial, RCB proceeded to publicly promote the event. On June 4, they shared open invitations on social media, including a video appeal by Virat Kohli, encouraging fans to attend the free-entry celebration.

“On 04.06.2025, the RCB, unilaterally and without consultation/permission from the Bangalore City Police, posted a photo at 7.01 am 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 8 am reiterating this information. Subsequently, on 04.06.2025, at 8.55 am, 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 3.14 pm on 04.06.2024, announcing a Victory Parade to be held from Vidhana Soudha to Chinnaswamy Stadium from 5 pm to 6 pm, stating that this victory parade would be followed by celebrations at Chinnaswamy Stadium”, the report stated.

“This post mentioned, for the first and only time, that free passes (limited entry) were available on shop.royalchallengers.com, and until this point, there had been no information regarding the disbursement of passes, implying that the event was open to all based on RCB’s prior posts. The posts on RCB’s official social media handles garnered immense engagement online ( with the first post receiving approximately 16 lakh views, the second post receiving approximately 4. 26 lakh views, the third post receiving approximately 7. 6 lakh views, and the fourth post receiving approximately 17 lakh views). Copies of these posts/announcements made by RCB on Social Medial are produced herewith as Document No. 4 series (pg 56-61). This led to a public gathering of immense proportions, exceeding 3,00,000, individuals”, it further added.

The massive turnout far exceeded expectations and crowd management capabilities. Due to overcrowding at the event organisers at 3.14 pm on the day of the event, organisers abruptly announced that entry to the stadium would require passes, contradicting earlier messages and triggering confusion and panic.

The state government said that the RCB, DNA, and KSCA failed to coordinate effectively. Mismanagement at the entry gates and delayed openings led to a stampede, resulting in injuries to seven police personnel. To prevent further unrest, the police permitted a restricted version of the event to proceed under controlled conditions.

The aftermath includes both magisterial and judicial probes, registration of FIRs, disciplinary action against police officers, suspension of the Chief Minister’s political secretary, transfer of the state intelligence chief, and announcement of compensation for victims.

On June 4, eleven people died and more than 30 were injured in a stampede outside Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy stadium as a huge crowd of nearly 3 lakh people had gathered to witness the victory celebration of Royal Challengers Bengaluru for winning the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Following the incident, the Karnataka government suspended top police officials at the Cubbon Park Police Station on June 5 and formed a one-man commission under a retired High Court Judge to probe the incident.

After announcing ex-gratia worth Rs 10 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ordered an increase in the compensation amount for the families of those who died in the Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede in Bengaluru to Rs 25 lakh each. (ANI)