How B'luru's big win turned into an unforgivable failure

Time of India

a day ago

It was supposed to have had a jubilant ending but what got scripted was a massive tragedy: 11 lives lost, and hundreds will be scarred for life. But the big question is: What went wrong? TOI reconstructs the sequence of events that led to one of the worst fan-related disasters in the country's cricketing history.
Here is how it unfolded:
Fans were desperate for a celebration
For 18 years, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) fans passionately supported their team, enduring heartbreak as the franchise finished runners-up three times but never clinched the IPL trophy. Their hunger for a title became legendary, with each season intensifying the longing. When RCB finally ended this wait by defeating Punjab Kings in the IPL final, it sparked wild celebrations across the city and beyond.
Fans flooded the streets, danced in jubilation, and lit up the city on Tuesday night.
When RCB announced at 7am Wednesday that the team would land in Bengaluru by noon and a victory parade would be taken out at 3.30 pm, the ecstatic fans got turbocharged further. They started heading towards the stadium to catch a glimpse of Virat and other heroes.
Cops on ground were exhausted
With Virat Kohli lifting the trophy in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru did not sleep the whole night as RCB fans danced into the early hours.
On the ground, police teams tried to manage the swelling crowds, but fatigue quickly set in. With strict instructions not to resort to force, officers could do little more than watch the revelry unfold. "In reality, it was our men who were drained after a gruelling night," said a senior officer and added: "Telling them to get started again in the morning was a tactical mistake.
Neither were reinforcements called."
Lacing consultation and clarification
Senior police officers were caught off guard when RCB announced a victory parade.
"Bengaluru does not have the experience of hosting a victory parade, it requires a lot of planning and logistical requirements. It should have been organised during the weekend in a bigger venue like BIEC on Tumakuru Road. We were not kept in the loop," a police officer said. The senior officers rushed to political bosses seeking the latter's intervention, but a powerful minister insisted that the show must go on and the govt should draw mileage from it.
Till noon, the senior cops were not sure if a parade would be held or not.
Missing in action
While the fans started swelling at the stadium by noon, the joint commissioners of police and deputy commissioners of police were missing in action. Most police deployment was at Vidhana Soudha where the CM and DyCM were felicitating players. A junior officer at the stadium said: "We need to resort to mild lathicharge to disperse and regulate the crowd, but there was no senior officer to give us instructions for a long time.
" Three DCPs had to walk through the crowd towards the stadium. By then, the situation had worsened.
Gate-related confusion
When the fans arrived at the stadium, they were not sure which gate they had to enter. As a result, fans were seen rushing from one gate to another hoping to gain entry. When they were refused entry, they became restless and tried to push through, resulting in breaking of barricades and stampede-like situations.
When lathi-wielding cops rushed in to control the crowd, people ran helter-skelter.
No rescue plan
The death toll could have been minimal had the authorities put in place basic measures like ambulances or regulated parking. Many fans and family members were seen picking up people, who had fainted, and rushing them to hospitals for treatment. Some Good Samaritans were seen administering CPR to fans who had collapsed.