The frenzy surrounding Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s first ever IPL title win turned fatal on Wednesday with over 50 fans injured and 11 feared dead following a stampede near the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The incident occurred while fans were attending the celebration event for the RCB team lifting the IPL 2025 trophy. “It is very unfortunate. This is a negative side of popularity. People are crazy for their cricketers. The organisers should have planned it better. My deepest condolences to the family of the deceased. I wish early recovery of the injured,” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
“When one organises a victory celebration of this magnitude, proper precautions, safety and security measures need to be taken. There have been some lapses somewhere.
“After such a glorious ending to the IPL, this has been an anti climax. There have been IPL celebrations in the past as well, like in Kolkata last year when KKR won but nothing happened there.”
Saikia also cited the examples of the celebrations in Mumbai following India’s T20 World Cup triumph in Barbados.
“Same was the case when we won the T20 World Cup. There was a sea of humanity in Mumbai but nothing happened. Police and local authorities worked in tandem to ensure smooth conduct. I hope nothing more untoward happens.
“Even yesterday in Ahmedabad, during the IPL final, there were 120,000 people at the stadium but BCCI has a dedicated team which has done elaborate planning in coordination with local district administration and law enforcing authorities to ensure that safety and security of the spectators,” Saikia added.
This was after the team landed in Bengaluru in the afternoon, received by Shivakumar at the airport. RCB defeated Punjab Kings by six runs in the IPL final at Ahmedabad on Tuesday to clinch their maiden title in 18 years.
Fans lined up the streets and thronged the Chinnaswamy stadium to catch a glimpse of the stars, including the talismanic Virat Kohli.
The scenes were a reminder of the historic welcome given to the T20 World Cup-winning Indian squad by Mumbai in July last year. However, things went haywire here.
The much-anticipated open-top bus parade, which was allowed to proceed by Siddaramaiah from Vidhana Soudha to the stadium, could not take place as crowd became unmanageable for the police.
The Bengaluru Traffic Police had already discouraged such a plan citing the congestion on the route.
But outside the Chinnaswamy stadium, fans jostled to sneak inside and it ultimately turned into a tragedy. Thousands of fans were also seen waiting outside the Vidhana Soudha to cheer the players.
The rainy weather in the city didn’t help. The police had already endured a torrid time managing the crowd that flooded the streets to celebrate the triumph last night.
In visuals shared online, Kohli could be seen holding the trophy and watching in awe, thousands who lined up the team’s bus route, cheerfully waving at the convoy.
