BENGALURU: The victory celebrations of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) took a tragic turn on Wednesday with the death of 11 people in Bengaluru after a stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium where people in lakhs had converged to celebrate the RCB victory by the Karnataka State Cricket Association.
The unprecedented tragedy struck barely a kilometre away from the Vidhana Soudha, where the RCB team was being felicitated by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. The latter had received the team at the HAL Airport.
“The main focus of the police was Vidhana Soudha, where the bandobast for VIPs was being overseen. There were no senior officers on the streets near the stadium to see or assess the crowd flow. This was despite the fact that viral ‘media advisory’ on social media was doing the rounds since early morning on the itinerary and the public celebration of RCB at Chinnaswamy Stadium. The mob surged from all directions; Kasturba Road, MG Road, Cubbon Road and Cubbon Park Metro station towards the stadium. The numbers were unmanageable and the crowd had far outnumbered the police personnel posted outside the stadium,” said sources.
“What was the hurry to celebrate RCB victory and at a closed place? IPL is a private and highly commercial event and what was the need for the government to celebrate it in such a hurried and shoddy manner? If at all, the event could have been better planned, managed and held in an open place like the Palace Grounds a few days down the line. A senior police officer on Wednesday morning had raised a query on the stadium event during a meeting, but it was overlooked,” they added.
According to multiple sources on the ground, the deaths occurred as a result of a stampede near the gates.
‘Things went out of control in no time’
“There was bad crowd management. There were guards inside the stadium and police personnel outside. The guards were not allowing the people in. There were not enough cops on the site to handle the mob; no big screens were put up to gauge the movement of the crowd. Unlike a cricket match, in which crowd strength is known, today it was free for all. Things went out of control in no time. People turned up in lakhs after social media posts on free passes went viral. The holding capacity of the stadium is around 35,000,” said a source.
“Given the frenzy of last evening in the city after RCB lifted the cup, the government and police should have gauged the mood of the people; assessed the situation and been more cautious in allowing a public function in a closed place like Chinnaswamy Stadium. While permission for the victory parade in an open-top bus from Vidhana Soudha to the stadium at 5 pm was turned down by the police, why and how did they allow the celebratory event with countless numbers of fans at the stadium? It was impossible to assess the crowd turnout and manage it in such a short time at a closed place like the stadium,” said sources.
Informed sources said the Congress high command had told both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar to be in New Delhi on Wednesday. But as they did not want to go, the celebration was a ploy to avoid the visit, the sources added.