'Shortened Programme, Ended In 10 Minutes': DK Shivakumar On RCB Celebrations After Stampede

Last Updated:June 04, 2025, 22:16 IST

Karnataka deputy CM DK Shivakumar said the Royal Challengers Bengaluru team agreed to end the event in 10 minutes after he gave them directions

Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot, CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar with RCB's Virat Kohli and other team members during a felicitation ceremony, at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on June 4. (Image: PTI/Shailendra Bhojak)

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday said Royal Challengers Bengaluru immediately agreed to shorten their programme for the victory parade to 10 minutes after overcrowding outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium caused a stampede and led to 11 deaths.

Numerous questions are being raised on why the celebrations continued despite news of the stampede. Reacting to this, Shivakumar said the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team agreed to end the event in 10 minutes after he gave them directions. He said they extended their condolences to the victims and their families.

“The team has extended their condolences…I went to the team immediately and gave them direction that this programme should be stopped within 10 minutes…the team agreed and within five minutes, they stopped the programme…we sent a lot of police teams with them since we didn’t want any incident to happen…" Shivakumar said.

Follow Bengaluru Stampede LIVE Updates Here

Reiterating his statement from earlier that the programme was shortened and ended in 10 minutes, he said the state government ensured that a procession that the organisers wanted in the morning was not held as guided by the police.

“Again I’m saying this on record. I should compliment my police officers…morning, too, they wanted to have a procession, they wanted to bring a vehicle from the airport itself. The police guided us not to…that’s why I rushed to the airport and ensured nothing went wrong…in Vidhana Soudha, too, we were very cautious," he said.

The deputy CM said the crowd broke the gates and there was a stampede-like situation near the stadium, where a large number of people thronged to take part in the RCB victory celebrations.

“There was a huge crowd. We saw it from the airport itself. So we decided to cancel the procession and brought them (team) in a closed vehicle. There was a request for a procession at least from Vidhana Soudha. As there was rain, the crowd got uncontrolled, so we cancelled that procession too. Here (at the stadium) too there were arrangements, for a procession — an hour-long programme. We instructed to conclude it in 10-15 minutes and, accordingly, it was done," he said.

(With PTI inputs)

News Desk

The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d...Read More

The News Desk is a team of passionate editors and writers who break and analyse the most important events unfolding in India and abroad. From live updates to exclusive reports to in-depth explainers, the Desk d...

Read More

Location :

First Published:

News india 'Shortened Programme, Ended In 10 Minutes': DK Shivakumar On RCB Celebrations After Stampede