- By Abhishek Sheoran
- Thu, 05 Jun 2025 12:45 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
RCB Victory Parade Stampede: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday took a suo-moto cognisance of the tragic stampede near Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium, which claimed the lives of 11 people and left 33 others injured during RCB’s IPL victory celebration. The court will hear the matter at around 2:30 pm today.
At least 13 FIRs have been filed over the mishap, which took place on Wednesday evening, after a large, uncontrollable crowd assembled outside gate number 7 of the Chinnaswamy Stadium in hopes of catching a glimpse of their favourite players.
According to a report by the Times of India, the chaos began after rumours spread that free tickets were being distributed at gate number 7 to attend a felicitation ceremony inside the stadium. This misinformation sparked panic among fans, ultimately leading to the deadly stampede. Access to the felicitation ceremony was restricted to individuals with valid tickets only.
Chinnaswamy Stampede: What Led To Chaos?
The chaos unfolded after confusion over the RCB victory parade and rumours that free passes were being distributed for the felicitation ceremony inside the Chinnaswamy stadium, which has a capacity of 35,000 people. The stampede initially began after people without valid entry passes to the stadium tried to swarm into the premises along with those who had valid tickets. During the chaos, some people fell on the ground, some got injured while trying to scale huge gates to gain entry into the stadium.
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Meanwhile, confusion over the celebrations was also considered the primary reason for the chaos. The Bengaluru Traffic Police at 11:56 am on Wednesday announced that there would not be a victory parade but only a felicitation function at the Chinnaswamy stadium. However, the RCB team management announced at 3:00 pm that they would hold a victory parade at 5:00 pm.
This left the fans unsure whether a parade would be held or not. Police officials said that even though they had made it clear that no victory parade would be held and that those with tickets would only be allowed to enter the stadium, fans in large numbers gathered outside the stadium, and many among them also jumped the gates to gain entry.
"While those with valid tickets were allowed to enter the stadium for celebrations, many tried to squeeze with those who had free passes and tickets. In that bid to get entry, some of them also started pushing each other," a police officer said, as quoted by PTI.
RCB Stampede: Complaints Filed Against CM Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar And KSCA
As per a report by News 18, as many as 11 FIRs have been registered over unnatural death. Besides, social activist Snehamayi Krishna filed a complaint in the Cubbon Park Police Station, seeking a negligence case against Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM Shivakumar and office bearers of the Karnataka State Cricket Board, as per ANI.
Lohith Hanumanpura, State Youth President of the Aam Aadmi Party, filed a police complaint requesting an FIR against the Karnataka State Cricket Association and the CEO of M Chinnaswamy Stadium in connection with the stampede incident.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday issued an apology over the incident. He said there was a capacity of only 35000 people inside the stadium, but 3 lakh people gathered outside.
"This should not have happened and we never expected such a big crowd...The stadium's capacity is 35,000, but more than 3 lakh people were there...Gates (of the stadium) have been broken...We apologise for this incident...We want to know the facts and give a clear message," he said.
He also rebuked the BJP for politicising the issue. "BJP is doing politics...We are very sorry for the incident. We will work out a better solution in the future. The Karnataka government had announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of the deceased.