Bengaluru Stampede After RCB Celebrations Triggers Major Shake-up in KSCA
11 lives has been claimed at the Bengaluru’s tragic stampede at M Chinnaswamy Stadium during RCB’s IPL victory celebrations, , has left the Karnataka cricket community in shock and mourning. In the wake of the incident, KSCA Secretary A Shankar and Treasurer E S Jairam resigned from their positions, saying that while they weren’t directly responsible for the crowd management, they felt it was their moral duty to step down after such a devastating loss.
The stampede occurred, when thousands of fans gathered outside the stadium following an open invitation posted by RCB on social media, asking supporters to join the celebrations. The chaos turned deadly, with the large crowd overwhelming the venue’s capacity. A planned victory parade was cancelled, but the event inside the stadium went ahead. The Karnataka government later said it asked organisers to limit the function to 10 minutes once news of the fatalities reached them.
In a joint statement released on Thursday night, Shankar and Jairam confirmed they had submitted their resignations to KSCA President Raghuram Bhat. “Due to the unforeseen and unfortunate events that have unfolded in the last two days, and though our role was very limited, we wish to state that we have tendered our resignation to our respective posts,” the statement read.
Before stepping down, the KSCA officials, including President Bhat, told the Karnataka High Court that the association was not responsible for gate or crowd management. They also clarified that they had initially sought permission to host the RCB celebrations at Vidhan Soudha, where the first round of felicitation took place without incident.
In the wake of the tragedy, several Bengaluru police officials, including Commissioner B Dayananda, were suspended. Additionally, four people — including RCB’s marketing head Nikhil Sosale and members of the event management company DNA — were arrested on Friday.
A complaint was also filed against star cricketer Virat Kohli by social activist HM Venkatesh, who accused him of promoting gambling through the IPL and claimed this led to the overcrowding. However, police have stated that no FIR has been registered against Kohli at this time.
An FIR has been lodged in connection with the overall incident, and investigations are ongoing.
