‘Lakhs of fans likely to come… bandobast will be a problem’: Bengaluru police letter reveals they objected to RCB celebrations

According to a source in the police department, his letter was written after the DPAR sought his opinion about holding a felicitation event on the grand steps of the Vidhana Soudha to honour the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) players.

Eleven people died in a stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru on June 4 during the felicitation event for the RCB following their Indian Premier League (IPL) championship victory.

The stampede near the Chinnaswamy stadium left 11 people dead. (Express Photo)

“Lakhs of cricket fans are likely to come to Vidhana Soudha. Since there is a shortage of security personnel, making bandobast will be a problem,” Gowda wrote to G Sathyavathi, Secretary, DPAR.

The letter, accessed by indianexpress.com, highlighted the venue’s sensitive status and inadequate CCTV coverage as additional concerns.

Despite these warnings, the celebrations proceeded as planned.

Hours before the fatal surge, Sathyavathi publicly urged fans to head to the stadium instead of the Vidhana Soudha, acknowledging overcrowding fears. The team was first feted at the legislature before celebrations moved to the stadium.

A source in the government said RCB’s victory celebrations were allegedly rushed through less than 24 hours after the final match, without proper crowd control or safety protocols. The DCP’s note was reportedly shared with then Bengaluru commissioner of police B Dayananda, who flagged it to Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh, yet permissions were still granted.

On Sunday, Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka demanded a special session of the Assembly to discuss the issue. “On June 4, 2025, Vidhana Soudha police wrote to the Chief Secretary, clearly stating that the event was organized in haste, and due to a staff shortage, security arrangements would be compromised. They had also recommended prohibiting the event. Ashoka recalled that when the Speaker suspended 18 BJP MLAs, he had cited the rulebook. Now, the government itself has violated the law, he charged angrily,” he stated.

Speaking at a press conference, he alleged that if Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar had not engaged in a power struggle, students would not have lost their lives. “Instead of consoling the families, they were focused on securing a trophy. The police had informed them of the first death by noon. Eight children had already died when the event began, yet the programme continued, showing that these leaders have hearts of stone,” he said.

The police had instructed that department staff and their families should not attend, yet families were present. Instructions for CCTV cameras were ignored, and drones were prohibited but used. The government disregarded all these instructions. The directive to limit the stage to 20-30 people was completely violated, with 200 people, including 11 players, present on stage.

Despite the event being listed as a government program in the order, Siddaramaiah claimed it was not a government event, Ashoka further alleged.

The state government has suspended Dayananda, Additional Commissioner of Police (west) Vikash Kumar Vikash, Deputy Commissioner of Police (central) Shekhar H Tekkannavar, ACP (Cubbon Park sub-division) C Balakrishna, and police inspector Girish A K.

The police have arrested Nikhil Sosale, marketing head of RCB management, and Sunil Mathew Sumanth and Kiran Kumar of DNA Entertainment Private Limited. The accused were produced before the magistrate and have been sent to judicial custody for 14 days.

Also, the state government relieved Siddaramaiah’s political secretary K Govindaraju, from the post. Also, the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) of state intelligence, Hemant M Nimbalkar, has been replaced by S Ravi.

The government has also transferred the case to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and a judicial probe headed by Justice Michael D’Cunha has been ordered to look into the lapses leading to the stampede.