The Bengaluru police have filed an FIR against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), event management firm DNA Networks, and several others in connection with the deadly stampede at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The incident, which occurred during a public felicitation ceremony for the RCB team, claimed eleven lives and left several others injured.
The FIR was registered suo motu by the Cubbon Park Police, a move confirmed by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Division) Shekar H. Tekkannavar. The case names multiple parties as accused in an alleged act of criminal negligence that led to the tragedy.
The complaint has been filed under various sections of the BNS, including Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), Section 125(12) (acts endangering life or personal safety of others), Section 142 (unlawful assembly), Section 121 (abetment of an offence), and Section 190 (liability of members of an unlawful assembly for offences committed in pursuit of a common object), as reported.
As per reports, the stampede broke out on June 4 evening during an event organized to celebrate RCB’s maiden IPL title win. Authorities had reportedly advised scheduling the event on a non-working day to minimize traffic congestion and allow adequate time for crowd management and deployment of security personnel.
Police teams had already been stretched thin, managing massive crowds across the city into the early hours of June 4, following RCB’s title win. Officials stated they had worked till 4 a.m., and raising fresh deployments the next day posed serious challenges.
Despite these warnings, the state government pushed ahead with the felicitation event on June 4, a decision that now faces heavy scrutiny.
Investigations are ongoing, and police have not ruled out further action against individuals or organizations found responsible for lapses in planning and crowd control.
