From Glory to Grief

Ee Sala Cup Namdu’ — This year, the Cup is ours — became almost the war cry for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) fans who wanted nothing short of a victory at the IPL 2025. And their heroes did not disappoint them. They lifted the coveted trophy after 18 years, which included four lost finals. The atmosphere and celebrations at the Motera stadium in Ahmedabad after the famous RCB win were one of rapture, jubilation, and shared pride, a feeling that has so far been seen in the overseas leagues of soccer, rugby, and basketball. Bengaluru also witnessed late-night fireworks and celebrations that continued well into the wee hours of Wednesday. The victory became synonymous with Kannadiga pride, with the state government jumping in to capitalise on the occasion by joining in the celebrations in an otherwise purely commercial and private sporting spectacle.

What was the hurry?

The way the celebration was hurriedly planned by the organisers, ignoring the concerns of the local administration, security arrangements and confusion about the sequence of events, it was doomed to be a Cup of Sorrow with blame lying at the doors of the RCB, Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) and the state government for acts of omission and commission. Was it the RCB team that wanted an early celebration, or was it the state government that prompted the team owners to rush a celebration within less than 24 hours of the final game? The state government’s concern should have been the orderly and incident-free management of the event. Only an impartial enquiry can reveal why the government forced the over-stretched Bengaluru Police, which had been on the roads clearing the crowds following the RCB victory, to provide security for the state-level victory bash just a few hours later without any rest and preparation.

Local Police Objections

Reports indicate that the local police authorities had red-flagged the Wednesday event due to a lack of adequate time and resources to provide failsafe security, as a large number of fans were expected to gather at the airport, roads leading to the Vidhan Souda, and the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The Police had suggested to the organisers and the government that they host this event on the coming Sunday, leaving them enough preparatory time. However, the state government prevailed over the local Police. No wonder, in the few hours that the local police had, no worthwhile barricading, proper access control, mobilisation of extra police force, sharing of information about security and traffic arrangements, and other crowd control and emergency response measures could be organised.

The following questions persist:

✻ Was a formal request made to the Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru, to hold the victory celebration?

✻ What was the sequence of events in that request?

✻ Was any formal permission granted, and for which events?

✻ Did the state government overrule the Commissioner of Police in writing or was it an oral direction?

✻ What were the compulsions of the state government to overlook the concerns of the local police and to allow the event?

✻ Will the state government take responsibility for the stampede by going against the local police’s advice?

✻ What was the interest of the state government in joining a purely private and commercial function?

Publicity Over Information

The entire ecosystem was busy cashing on the publicity. The state deputy CM received the RCB team at the airport. The team was first feted at the Vidhan Souda complex by the Governor, Chief minister, and his cabinet colleagues before leaving for the stadium. Though the function was supposed to be a ticketed affair, the fans presumed it to be a free-for-all event. They turned up in thousands, first at the international airport and later at the Vidhan Souda and the Chinnaswamy Stadium. It could also be a case of overselling the tickets, as seen with the excess sale of railway tickets during the Kumbh Mela, which was one of the reasons for the stampede at New Delhi railway station in February this year. The local police had not cleared the victory parade or procession. However, the social media handles of RCB management continued to galvanise their fans till late afternoon, compounding the situation. It was officially cancelled after the unfortunate loss of lives outside the stadium. The local administration and fans did not have sufficient time to establish the security protocols and absorb the information, respectively, for the event to culminate into a jubilant occasion. It instead ended as a nightmarish catastrophe on black Wednesday, claiming eleven lives and leaving dozens with injuries, both physical and mental.

Karnataka Chief Minister accepted in a press conference that no one expected a turnout of 2-3 lakhs of fans at the Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium in Bengaluru, which has a capacity of only 35,000. He has ordered a magisterial enquiry and announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs to the kin of the deceased. KSCA and RCB have also announced a compensation of Rs 5 and 10 lakhs, respectively. A magisterial enquiry into the failings of the state governments is too little and inadequate. An enquiry by a sitting high court judge will establish the seriousness of the intent of the government to pinpoint the lapses and to fix accountability. In their enthusiasm bordering on frenzy, thousands of fans, parents with their children, youth, and elderly people thronged all the gates to enter the venue. They climbed on trees, electricity poles and rooftops and scaled walls and fences, desperate to catch a glimpse of their cricketing gods.

Eyewitnesses claim that the police were totally overwhelmed by the huge crowd pressure. The police tried to use mild force to subdue the crowds, but the excitement of the moment and the sheer momentum of the crowd pressure led to the tragic stampede. Some attribute the stampede to the collapse of a temporary slab over a drain near one of the entry gates. Some blame the police for fortifying only the VIP entrances of the stadium at the cost of the general gates flung open for the public. Crowds have a dynamism of their own. A few thousand people, when pressed in a small enclosure or negotiating a narrow path, exert tremendous pressure on slow movers who first give in to this pressure, triggering a stampede. This uncontrollable and massive crowd pressure can also bring down weak infrastructure, such as gates, barricades, and railings. The celebrations inside the stadium continued, unaware of the tragic events unfolding outside. Once the tragic news was shared with the organisers, the whole ceremony was cut short, but not without a social media backlash from the fans.

The fans accused the organisers and the state government of poor and insensitive arrangements. One X user accused: “1 parade, 0 brains, & now 7 funerals. What kind of idiots plan a mass celebration without barricades without strategy? This isn’t a celebration gone wrong, this is an administration that went brain-dead.”

Another angry user said, “The most gut-wrenching aspect of the #ChinnaswamyStadium stampede is the shocking apathy shown—celebrations continued as bodies lay lifeless. Where is our humanity? These young Kannadigas died for nothing, without even respect in death. It’s disgraceful, inhuman, and unforgivable. Those responsible must be named, shamed, and held criminally accountable.”

BCCI was the first to dissociate itself from the event. The IPL Chairman asserted that it was not a BCCI function. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said, “When one organises a victory celebration of this magnitude, proper precautions and security measures need to be taken.”

We as a nation have not learnt from past disasters. Nor have the authorities made public the findings of enquiry commissions instituted with great alacrity to assuage the public resentment. The wounds of Hathras, New Delhi railway station, and Hyderabad cinema hall are still fresh in the minds of citizens of this country. Will those responsible be named, shamed and held criminally accountable, as the X user posed is the big question.

The writer is a former Director General of Police of Himachal Pradesh. He is an alumnus of the National Defence College. Views expressed are personal