In mounting troubles for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) over its IPL 2025 victory celebrations on Wednesday in Bengaluru that led to a deadly stampede, another police case has been filed against it. The First Information Report (FIR) has been filed by a victim of the stampede, who also named the Karnataka cricket body and the organisers of the event.
"This entire incident occurred due to the negligence of the RCB franchise, DNA agency, and KSCA management, who failed to make proper arrangements and facilities," stated the FIR by the victim, who fractured his right shoulder joint after getting caught in the stampede.
This is the second FIR against RCB, the event management firm DNA and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA). The first was registered on Thursday, a day after 11 people died and 47 were injured in the stampede.
The stampede happened on Wednesday afternoon in front of the Chinnaswamy stadium when a large number of cricket fans turned up to become a part of the IPL victory celebrations.
Pointing to the posts on the social media handles of RCB, he said the announcement of the celebration was widely shared across their platforms. "It was also mentioned that entry would be allowed without tickets, and that tickets would be distributed at the venue itself, particularly near Gate No. 17. Some social media posts also indicated that tickets were being sold unofficially," Rolan Gomes, the complainant, said.
He said that when he reached one of the gates of the stadium around 2.15 pm, he saw a huge crowd of RCB fans. Mr Gomes said the police officers on duty opened the gate around 3.10 pm, and "thousands of people rushed in simultaneously through the narrow gate and the stampede occurred".
"I slipped and fell, and people behind me trampled over those who had fallen. I saw several others lose consciousness due to the crush," the 25-year-old recalled the celebration event that had turned into a nightmare.
"When I tried entering through the same gate, I too was caught in the stampede and my right shoulder joint was fractured. Around 4:20 PM, some unknown persons helped me into an auto-rickshaw and took me to V.S. Hospital, where I was admitted as an inpatient and am undergoing treatment," he added.
Mr Gomes blamed the "negligence of the RCB franchise, DNA agency, and KSCA management for failing to make proper arrangements and facilities".
"Their irresponsibility resulted in a tragic situation with loss of life and injuries. Therefore, I am giving this statement requesting that appropriate legal action be taken against them," he added.
Four officials of RCB and the event management firm DNA Entertainment Private Limited were taken into custody in connection with the stampede today
On Thursday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had instructed the DGP and IGP of the state to immediately arrest the representatives of RCB and DNA event managers and Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) in connection with the stampede, as prima facie there was "irresponsibility" and "carelessness" on their part.
Earlier today, the Chief Minister's political secretary K Govindaraj was removed from his post with immediate effect. This comes a day after Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayananda and four other senior police officials were suspended in connection with the stampede.
