The aftermath of the tragic stampede at Bengaluru's M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, which occurred during Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) IPL victory celebrations, continues to unfold. As of June 7, 2025, key developments include a significant increase in compensation for the victims' families and the resignations of two top officials from the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA).
Following the incident, which claimed the lives of 11 people and injured dozens more, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has raised the compensation for the families of the deceased to ₹25 lakh each. This is a substantial increase from the initial amount of ₹10 lakh that was previously announced.
Taking moral responsibility for the tragedy, KSCA Secretary A Shankar and Treasurer A E Jairam tendered their resignations late Friday night. In a joint press statement issued on Saturday morning, they stated that despite their limited role, they were stepping down due to the "unforeseen and unfortunate events." KSCA President Raghuram Bhat has accepted their resignations in an emergency meeting but ruled out dissolving the rest of the managing committee. While Bhat did not reveal the names of interim secretary and treasurer, MS Vinay and Manjunatha Raju are the frontrunners to the posts.
The incident occurred on Wednesday evening when a massive crowd gathered both inside and outside the stadium to celebrate RCB's first-ever IPL title. The initial felicitation was organized at the Vidhan Soudha, which proceeded without major incident. However, chaos erupted outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium after lakhs of fans converged there following RCB's social media invitation to attend a ceremony. The invite was eventually deleted.
In the wake of the tragedy, an FIR was filed against KSCA officials, including Shankar and Jairam. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had ordered the arrest of those responsible, prompting Shankar and Jairam to approach the High Court seeking anticipatory bail. Their petition argued that the association and its office-bearers were not directly liable for the incident, stating they "stand aloof of any liabilities in connection with the unfortunate incident." While the court granted interim protection from arrest, the resignations of Shankar and Jairam are widely seen as a symbolic acceptance of moral responsibility.
The Bengaluru city police have also arrested Nikhil Sosale, head of marketing and revenue at RCB, and three officials from the event management company, DNA Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., who organized the victory celebrations. They have been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. Sosale has challenged his arrest in the High Court, claiming it was "arbitrary, illegal, and without any material basis."
In addition to the arrests, the state government has taken action against several police officials. Bengaluru City Police Commissioner B. Dayananda was among five senior police officers suspended in connection with the incident. Furthermore, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's political secretary, K Govindaraj, has been relieved from his post, and Hemant M Nimbalkar, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) of state intelligence, has been replaced.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by Additional Director-General of Police B. K. Singh, has been formed to probe all cases pertaining to the stampede. The SIT has begun its investigation, including visiting the KSCA office to gather preliminary information.
RCB has announced a compensation of ₹10 lakh each for the families of the deceased and launched the "RCB Cares" fund to support injured fans. Karnataka Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar has urged KSCA and RCB to provide ₹1 crore each to the victims' families.
The tragic stampede has raised serious questions about crowd management and event planning for large-scale public gatherings. As investigations continue, authorities are under pressure to ensure that such incidents are prevented in the future.
