It was meant to be a celebration like no other. A grand tribute to a beloved team that finally clinched the IPL title after 18 long years. But the victory march for Royal Challengers Bengaluru turned into a day of horror, as celebration gave way to tragedy. Eleven lives were lost, including four teenagers- the youngest just 14.
As we pieced together the sequence of events leading to the stampede, it became clear that lack of planning, co-ordination, indecision over allowing a victory parade and rumours of free passes became a death trap.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah – who felicitated the team at the Vidhana Soudha – said that the police failed to estimate the size of the crowd that gathered outside the stadium. He snapped at reporters who asked him about the government’s failure and deflected blame to cricket authorities.
“It was the Cricket Association which organised the event, and we only provided security,” Siddaramaiah said at a press conference. The RCB management said that they “promptly amended” their programme “on the advice of the local administration.”
The call for a victory parade
As they lifted the trophy at Ahmedabad on June 3, a jubilant RCB team wanted an open bus victory parade in Bengaluru. Sources in the government and police department say that calls were made from the RCB management and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), to those they know in the government, and oral permission was given.
In the exuberance, no one paused to think that lakhs would turn out for such a parade and crowd control would need planning or even that Bengaluru police would already be having a sleepless night on June 3 as lakhs of people had descended on the roads, at shopping malls, pubs, etc to celebrate the victory.
RCB went ahead and posted on their social media handles around 7 am on June 4 that a victory parade would be held. The post said that the parade would be from Vidhana Soudha (the state secretariat) to the Chinnaswamy stadium, which is around 1.5 km away. At this point, the overnight partying had barely ended. The city police were already stretched.
The team officials were scheduled to meet the Chief Minister’s office at 10.30 am, but by then, Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda had made it clear that an open bus victory parade would not be permitted. He said only two celebrations would be allowed—one felicitation at the Vidhana Soudha and another at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
TNM was told that the RCB management reached out to the office of Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar asking permission to hold the victory parade, but the police flatly refused this time too. By 12 pm, Bengaluru Traffic police made an announcement that there would be no victory parade. But it was too late by then.
Spurred by social media announcements, and forever prepared for bad traffic, thousands of Bengalureans had started towards the Chinnaswamy stadium by then.
At 3 pm, RCB posted again about the victory parade. Although the message said ‘Free victory day passes’, the phrase ‘limited entry’ in parentheses appears to have been lost in the fine print.
The long tour from the airport
The team arrived at the HAL airport in Bengaluru around 1.30 pm. The HAL airport is not the main airport of the city and caters only to VIPs. From here, the cavalcade travelled through the heart of Bengaluru to Taj West End hotel at Race Course Road, which has been the team’s abode for years.
As news of the victory parade being cancelled had started trickling down, thousands of fans, people from all age groups, lined up on the roads to get a glimpse of Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and their team. The bus had tinted windows, and the players were hardly visible, but that didn't stop people from gathering on the roads, dancing, singing and throwing flowers at the team.
Police sources told TNM that things were chaotic right from the time the team landed at the HAL Airport. “There were thousands of people all along Airport Road, at Domlur flyover and Murugesh Palya. We didn’t think that the bus could even move forward and reach Vidhana Soudha,” an officer told TNM.
One police officer said that at the Domlur flyover, he almost thought it was a dead end and the cavalcade could not move any further. The safety of the team, too, was paramount.
Somehow, the police ensured that the bus reached Vidhana Soudha after making a stop at the Taj West End hotel on Race Course Road.
As these visuals aired on every platform, supercharged fans, lakhs of them, gravitated towards the Chinnaswamy stadium.
Absolutely no co-ordination
Bengaluru Traffic Police is normally adept at sharing advisories. But on June 4, there were no detailed advisories or alternate routes issued. At 12 pm, a small traffic advisory was given which merely stated that there would be felicitation programmes at the Vidhana Soudha and Chinnaswamy stadium from 3 pm to 8 pm, and the public are advised to use metro and other public transport. It also said that there would be no victory parade.
This advisory is proof enough of the lack of planning and coordination. One police officer said that, in his jurisdiction, he had asked all police personnel except for the sentries and the station house officers to be on the streets for crowd control. This, after a night of patrolling the frenzied celebrations on the streets of the city.
“But that’s not enough. There should have been proper meetings, the route finalised, and barricading planned. Instead, there was a lot of confusion,” the officer said. He pointed out that the lack of planning wasn’t due to a shortage of time, as Bengaluru police had previously managed large, sudden crowds during the funerals of movie icons Puneeth Rajkumar and Ambareesh.
Though the felicitation event at the Vidhana Soudha went off without incident, chaos and tragedy unfolded simultaneously at the Chinnaswamy stadium.
Police sources say there was a lack of communication between them, the Karnataka State Cricket Association and government officials.
One officer said that things started to go wrong at Chinnaswamy Stadium, which has 21 entry gates, but only a few were opened for the crowd to enter. “This created a bottleneck. Why were all the gates not opened?”
Another officer stated that a tragedy was avoided inside the stadium, where the number of people easily exceeded the stadium’s capacity by three or four times. On the first level, people were packed like sardines, three people to a chair and more surrounding them. The officer said that they realised the situation was deteriorating when the crowd in front of the barricade of the first level started throwing papers at police with ‘Help us’ scrawled on them.
Immediately, the police moved to the exits on the first level and started forcing people to leave, even while the programme was going on. “If the barricade on the first level had not withstood the pressure of the crowd of people, then it would have been a big tragedy,” the officer said.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that there were around 2-3 lakh people in the area around Chinnaswamy Stadium, but that only 35,000 passes had only been issued, which was the capacity of the stadium. There was a swarm of people at the gates—many clutching valid passes but unable to enter, and others without passes, shaking the barricades and demanding access.
Much of the confusion stemmed from the lack of clarity on which gates were open for entry. With no official announcements, people kept running from one gate to another, hoping to get in. As they were turned away repeatedly, frustration mounted and more people began rattling the gates.
Gate number 7 on Link Road turned into the deadliest spot, as crowds who had failed to gain entry through the Queens Road gates surged there instead.
Amid the chaos, several people fell and were trampled. While a few died on the spot, at least 50 others were injured. Outside the stadium, police scrambled to find ambulances, loading in as many people as they could. Families, friends and bystanders carried the injured, rushing towards any vehicle that could ferry them to the nearest hospital. As tragedy unfolded outside, fans inside the stadium cheered, perhaps unaware of the horror beyond the gates. Virat Kohli got the longest and the loudest ovation, the star cricketer who has stayed with the team for almost two decades, despite RCB never having won a title before.
“There should have been announcements from the morning. The government and the police should have asked people not to come in large numbers, to sit and watch on their TV sets. We should have told them that the entry is for a limited number. There should have been many more barricades at the stadium. All gates should have been kept open. What was the point of us saying we were trying our best? At the end of the day, so many people died,” a frustrated police officer said.
RCB and BCCI response
Meanwhile, RCB and KSCA in a joint statement announced Rs 5 lakh compensation for the families of the people who lost their lives. “We sincerely regret this tragedy and stand in solidarity with the bereaved families during this extremely difficult time…We want to emphasise that this compensation is not intended to determine or replace the value of human life, but rather to serve as a gesture of support and solidarity during such challenging times,” the statement said.
In a separate statement, RCB said, “We are deeply anguished by the unfortunate incidents that have come to light through media reports regarding public gatherings all over Bengaluru in anticipation of the team’s arrival this afternoon. The safety and well-being of everyone is of utmost importance to us. RCB mourns the tragic loss of lives and extend our heartfelt condolences to the affected families. Immediately upon being made aware of the situation, we promptly amended our programme and followed the guidance and advice of the local administration. We urge all our supporters to please stay safe," reads the statement.
Virat Kohli also shared the statement on Instagram, saying, “At a loss for words. Absolutely gutted.”
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia expressed deep sorrow over the stampede outside Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium that claimed 11 lives during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) felicitation.
“It is very unfortunate. This is a negative side of popularity. People are crazy for cricketers. The organisers should have planned it better. My deepest condolences to the family of the deceased. I wish for the early recovery of the injured,” Devajit told PTI on Wednesday, June 4. He added that organising a victory celebration of such magnitude required meticulous planning and stringent safety protocols. “There have been some lapses somewhere. After such a glorious ending to the IPL, this has been an anticlimax.”
Comparing the situation to other recent cricket celebrations, Devajit cited the peaceful parades of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) after their IPL win last year and the Indian men’s team’s T20 World Cup victory parade in Mumbai in 2024. “There was a sea of humanity in Mumbai, but nothing happened. Police and local authorities worked in tandem to ensure smooth conduct. Even yesterday in Ahmedabad, during the IPL final, there were 1,20,000 people at the stadium. But the BCCI has a dedicated team which has done elaborate planning in coordination with local district administration and law enforcement authorities to ensure the safety and security of the spectators.”
Meanwhile, IPL chairman Arun Singh Dhumal said the BCCI was not informed of any plans for an open-bus parade or felicitation ceremony in Bengaluru on June 4. “We are not even aware that someone has planned this event. How come such a huge crowd came to the stadium?” he said. He explained that officials inside the stadium were unaware of the situation outside until reports of the tragedy surfaced. “Officials inside weren't aware of what happened outside. They assured me they will wrap it up inside. It is very sad and tragic.”
Arun said BCCI had already concluded its official IPL events in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, June 3. “We spoke to the management when we got to know about the situation, and they assured us that they would finish the ceremony quickly. This is definitely sad and tragic. RCB officials assured me that they will wind up the celebrations now.”
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