Three days after the tragic stampede outside Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium that claimed 11 lives and injured around 56 people during a felicitation event for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, an official letter has revealed that police had issued prior warnings about the risks.
A communication dated June 4, the day of the incident, by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Legislature Security) M.N. Karibasavana Gowda flagged serious concerns about crowd management and manpower shortages. The letter was addressed to G. Sathyavathi, Secretary, Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, and other top officials.
“With lakhs of cricket fans expected to gather at Vidhana Soudha and a shortage of security personnel, managing the crowd will be a major challenge,” Gowda wrote in the note.
Gowda noted that “the RCB cricket team has a nationwide fan following” and warned that hosting the event at Vidhana Soudha would “attract lakhs of fans”. He said this would pose a “major challenge” due to a staff crunch in the Vidhana Soudha Security Division.
The letter recommended suspending all online and offline public entry passes on June 4 to control the crowd. It also advised against allowing government staff to bring family members to the Secretariat that day, and suggested declaring an afternoon holiday to reduce footfall near the venue.
