Royal Challengers Bengaluru have been named the main party responsible for the 4 June crush outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, which left 11 supporters dead and more than 50 injured. The finding appears in a status report tabled by the Karnataka government on Thursday, two days after the High Court ordered the document to be made public.
Key points first, then we’ll unpack them. The report says RCB, DNA Networks (the franchise’s long-time event partner) and the Karnataka State Cricket Association decided “unilaterally” to stage a victory parade without police clearance. Police had been notified only the previous evening. Officers, citing “insufficient information regarding the expected gathering size, arrangements made as well as the proposal being made on very short notice,” refused permission. Despite that, RCB announced the parade on social media at 7.01 am on the day. The rest is the tragic sequence supporters will likely remember.
“The RCB Management, in association with its event management partner, DNA Networks Private Limited, and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), unilaterally decided to hold the victory celebration without prior consultation with the police and without obtaining the necessary permissions or license for such celebration.” – extract from the government’s status report
Crowd numbers spiralled after posts featuring captain Faf du Plessis and a short clip of Virat Kohli promising to “celebrate with the fans in Bengaluru” went viral. Bengaluru city police, now also under scrutiny, tried to throw together a bandobast plan in barely half a day.
“It is pertinent to note that a mere intimation was given by the organisers,” the report states, pointing to the Licensing and Controlling of Assemblies and Processions (Bangalore City) Order, 2009, which requires detailed applications for any mass gathering.
The legal wrangle
While the franchise absorbs the government’s criticism, the administration is arguing another point in court. Five police officers, including IPS officer Vikash Kumar, were suspended by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the immediate aftermath. Last week the Central Administrative Tribunal overturned those suspensions. State lawyers have appealed, insisting the tribunal “overstepped its jurisdiction”.
“What was the officer doing? Did he take any action? Instead of issuing prohibitory orders under the Police Act, they proceeded with bandobast arrangements for the celebration,” the state’s counsel told the court on Wednesday.
CID findings still to come
Separately, the Criminal Investigation Department has been probing the incident for six weeks. RCB’s senior management and DNA executives have already sat through lengthy interviews. The CID report is said to be in its final stage; RCB say they will comment in full only after those findings are published.
Franchise reaction—measured, for now
Privately, RCB officials are frustrated that the government released its own report before the CID had finished. Publicly, they have kept to a single line: the club is “co-operating fully with every authority”. A senior administrator, speaking off the record, said RCB believed the final investigation “will show a wider chain of responsibility”.
Expert view
Former police commissioner B S Chengappa, who oversaw crowd control during the 2011 World Cup matches in Bengaluru, reckons mistakes were made on more than one front. “Twelve hours is impossible for a crowd that size—any officer will tell you that,” he says. “But if organisers go ahead after being refused permission, there’s only so much policing can do.”
Looking ahead
For now, the state report raises the likelihood of sanctions—financial at the least—against RCB, DNA Networks and possibly the KSCA. Whether individual officers will also face renewed disciplinary action depends on the High Court’s view of the tribunal ruling.
Either way, the families of the 11 supporters who went out to celebrate a title and never came home are still waiting for accountability that feels complete, not piecemeal.
