Stampede at Bengaluru stadium: Extra skeletons are tumbling out of the closet following the stampede that claimed 11 lives throughout Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL victory celebrations within the Karnataka capital. It’s been revealed {that a} senior police officer had written to the federal government expressing issues about crowd security and likewise objected to the celebrations on the Vidhana Soudha.
M N Karibasavana Gowda, DCP (Vidhana Soudha safety) had red-flagged the hazards in a June 4, 2025, letter written to the federal government secretary to the Division of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR). In 10 factors, Gowda talked about issues together with safety, time to rearrange important installations, and threats to them.
Based on a supply within the police division, his letter was written after the DPAR sought his opinion about holding a felicitation occasion on the grand steps of the Vidhana Soudha to honour the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) gamers.
Eleven individuals died in a stampede outdoors the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru on June 4 through the felicitation occasion for the RCB following their Indian Premier League (IPL) championship victory.
The stampede close to the Chinnaswamy stadium left 11 individuals useless. (Categorical Photograph)
“Lakhs of cricket followers are more likely to come to Vidhana Soudha. Since there’s a scarcity of safety personnel, making bandobast will likely be an issue,” Gowda wrote to G Sathyavathi, Secretary, DPAR.
The letter, accessed by indianexpress.com, highlighted the venue’s delicate standing and insufficient CCTV protection as extra issues.
Regardless of these warnings, the celebrations proceeded as deliberate.
Hours earlier than the deadly surge, Sathyavathi publicly urged followers to move to the stadium as an alternative of the Vidhana Soudha, acknowledging overcrowding fears. The group was first feted on the legislature earlier than celebrations moved to the stadium.
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A supply within the authorities mentioned RCB’s victory celebrations had been allegedly rushed via lower than 24 hours after the ultimate match, with out correct crowd management or security protocols. The DCP’s notice was reportedly shared with then Bengaluru commissioner of police B Dayananda, who flagged it to Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh, but permissions had been nonetheless granted.
On Sunday, Chief of the Opposition R Ashoka demanded a particular session of the Meeting to debate the difficulty. “On June 4, 2025, Vidhana Soudha police wrote to the Chief Secretary, clearly stating that the occasion was organized in haste, and as a consequence of a employees scarcity, safety preparations could be compromised. They’d additionally beneficial prohibiting the occasion. Ashoka recalled that when the Speaker suspended 18 BJP MLAs, he had cited the rulebook. Now, the federal government itself has violated the legislation, he charged angrily,” he said.
Talking at a press convention, he alleged that if Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D Ok Shivakumar had not engaged in an influence wrestle, college students wouldn’t have misplaced their lives. “As a substitute of consoling the households, they had been centered on securing a trophy. The police had knowledgeable them of the primary dying by midday. Eight youngsters had already died when the occasion started, but the programme continued, displaying that these leaders have hearts of stone,” he mentioned.
The police had instructed that division employees and their households mustn’t attend, but households had been current. Directions for CCTV cameras had been ignored, and drones had been prohibited however used. The federal government disregarded all these directions. The directive to restrict the stage to 20-30 individuals was fully violated, with 200 individuals, together with 11 gamers, current on stage.
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Regardless of the occasion being listed as a authorities program within the order, Siddaramaiah claimed it was not a authorities occasion, Ashoka additional alleged.
The state authorities has suspended Dayananda, Extra Commissioner of Police (west) Vikash Kumar Vikash, Deputy Commissioner of Police (central) Shekhar H Tekkannavar, ACP (Cubbon Park sub-division) C Balakrishna, and police inspector Girish A Ok.
The police have arrested Nikhil Sosale, advertising and marketing head of RCB administration, and Sunil Mathew Sumanth and Kiran Kumar of DNA Leisure Non-public Restricted. The accused had been produced earlier than the Justice of the Peace and have been despatched to judicial custody for 14 days.
Additionally, the state authorities relieved Siddaramaiah’s political secretary Ok Govindaraju, from the put up. Additionally, the Extra Director Normal of Police (ADGP) of state intelligence, Hemant M Nimbalkar, has been changed by S Ravi.
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The federal government has additionally transferred the case to the Legal Investigation Division (CID) and a judicial probe headed by Justice Michael D’Cunha has been ordered to look into the lapses resulting in the stampede.