Bengaluru, July 17: The Karnataka government has blamed IPL franchisee RCB, its event management partner, and the state cricket association for ignoring standard procedures and safety measures, leading to a stampede that claimed 11 lives and injured 33 others last month.
In its status report on the June 4 stampede near the M Chinnaswamy stadium that was submitted to the Karnataka High Court, the state government said RCB, its event management partner, and the state cricket association unilaterally organised the team’s massive victory parade and celebration without prior permission or furnishing mandatory details to the authorities.
The report has been submitted to the High Court.
The report emphasised that the organisers never formally sought police permission in the prescribed format as mandated by the Licensing and Controlling of Assemblies and Processions (Bangalore City) Order, 2009. It clarified that merely submitting an intimation does not amount to seeking permission, particularly for events involving large public gatherings in central Bengaluru.
According to the report, at about 6.30 pm, just hours before the IPL final between RCB and Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Ahmedabad, the Karnataka State Cricket Association, on behalf of DNA Networks Pvt Ltd, RCB’s event management partner, submitted a letter of intimation to the Cubbon Park police station here.
“Should RCB emerge victorious in the tournament, the management of RCB/DNA Entertainment Networks Private Limited intends to plan potential victory parades around the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, culminating in victory celebrations at the stadium. This was in the nature of an intimation, not a requisition for permission as required under the law,” the report said.
However, the police denied permission due to the lack of critical information, including projected crowd size, event logistics, and crowd control measures. The proposal was also made on short notice, which precluded due processing.
Despite this, RCB unilaterally proceeded on June 4, announcing a public ‘Victory Parade’ from Vidhana Soudha to Chinnaswamy Stadium via multiple social media posts starting at 7.01 am.
A final post at 3.14 pm announced that the parade would begin at 5.00 pm and would be followed by stadium celebrations.
This post was the first to mention that free passes were available online, but it came after large crowds had already started gathering. The posts garnered widespread attention, with the first four updates accumulating viewership figures of 16 lakh, 4.26 lakh, 7.6 lakh, and 17 lakh, respectively.
This crowd estimate is supported by BMRCL ridership on June 4, which saw 9.66 lakh commuters compared to a daily average of six lakh. “Therefore, including those who travelled on foot, used public transport, and private means on June 4, the estimated gathering would be well beyond three lakh individuals,” the statement said. (PTI)
