Kolkata : Following deadly stampede incident outside Chinnaswamy during RCB victory celebrations with death toll expected to be increased more than 11, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia termed it “eye opener” for the board as well as IPL franchise. He said BCCI will soon take a call with regards to hosting events where large crowds are expected.
The arrival of Royal Challengers Bengaluru at their home venue on Wednesday for their title celebration was marred by deaths outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Among the casualties was a child, while several others were injured in the stampede around the venue where RCB went ahead with their victory celebrations. As per reports, 11 deaths and 25 injuries are recorded as per now but the numbers might increase later.
“This is eye-opener and we have to think about what we should do in such situations. There will be a winner every year and there will be a celebration in their home city. So we have to learn a lesson so it doesn’t happen in the future. At this moment, the BCCI has no control over private celebrations of a franchise,” Saikia told The Indian Express.
It is to be noted that celebrations by IPL franchises aren’t under domain of BCCI.
“Yesterday (Tuesday), we had 1,32,000 people at the Narendra Modi Stadium. We took care of every minor detail about safety and crowd management, and there was not a single incident even though all the stands were full. There was proper policing and control. Something went terribly wrong today in Bengaluru but the BCCI has no role to play,” Saikia added.
IPL Governing Council chairman Arun Dhumal said they didn’t know who had organised the event. “We have taken note and will see that such incidents never happen again. We had no knowledge of any victory parade or any celebrations taking place in Bengaluru. We had no idea who organised it and how so many fans came there. We will look into the matter.”
Dhumal defended RCB for going ahead with the celebrations inside the stadium while all this was happening outside.
“The RCB management also had no idea what was happening because they were inside the stadium. As soon as we got to know, we spoke to RCB officials, and they told us that they were winding things up,” he said.
Several questions have come up as to whether enough time was given to local authorities and police to put adequate crowd management measures in place.
In the past, the BCCI had hosted victory parades in Mumbai – after the 2007 and 2024 T20 World Cup triumphs – without incident. But those events were not restricted to a small area.
The event in Bengaluru was supposed to start at the Vidhan Soudha and end at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, a distance of less than 2 km. It meant a large crowd turned up in a small stretch. That the police denied permission to hold an open-top bus parade only added to the confusion. RCB management announced only hours before the event in the stadium that special passes would be issued it. This sparked more debates.
Mumbai Cricket Association president Ajinkya Naik shed light on how they planned India’s victory parade after the T20 World Cup victory last year.
“When we were told that a victory parade was going to be organised, we followed whatever Mumbai Police told us to do. Our association had handled such a parade in 2007 also but it was local authorities who guided us. We had to close the gates two hours before the Indian team arrived. And fans were informed well in advance that no one will be allowed inside the stadium after a certain time. The Mumbai Police had appealed to fans to reach Marine Drive well in advance for the victory procession in the evening,” Naik told The Indian Express.
RCB also addressed the tragic incident via social media saying, “The unfortunate incident in Bengaluru yesterday has caused a lot of anguish and pain to the RCB family. As a mark of respect and a gesture of solidarity, RCB has announced a financial support of INR 10 lakh to each of the eleven families of the deceased. In addition, a fund called RCB Cares is also being created to support fans injured in this tragic incident. Our fans will always remain at the heart of everything that we do. We remain united in grief”.
