The Karnataka government’s report on the stampede during Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) Victory Day parade in Bengaluru was released on Thursday. The report blames RCB for the accident. Kohli is also mentioned in it. The Karnataka government has said that RCB did not take any permission from the government for the victory parade held at Chinnaswamy. Due to the large crowd, a stampede occurred in which 11 people died and 50 were injured.
However, the government also said that sudden cancellation of the event could have triggered violence and deteriorated law and order in the city. The government submitted the report to the High Court on July 15. The government told the court that it wanted to keep the report confidential but the court said that there is no legal basis for such confidentiality. Meanwhile, Karnataka minister Sharan Prakash Patil said, ‘Whenever a big event takes place, it is the responsibility of the department and there has definitely been a lapse… young lives have been lost and we cannot take this lightly and we will take some action…’
According to the report, RCB had informed the police about the victory parade on June 3 after the team won the IPL title after 18 years, but it was only an informational information rather than seeking permission. Whereas, under the law, permission for such events is required at least seven days in advance. RCB did not apply for official permission. The police were not informed about the size of the crowd, arrangements, or possible problems, so permission was not granted.
The report states that RCB announced the free entry on their social media handles on June 4 at 7:01 am and invited people to join the victory parade from Vidhan Sabha to Chinnaswamy Stadium. Another post was made at 8 am and at 8:55 am a video of Virat Kohli was shared, in which he talked about celebrating with the people of Bangalore and RCB fans. At 3:14 pm, RCB gave information about the free passes for the first time, which was not clear earlier.