Virat Kohli video, RCB X posts: Bengaluru stampede report triggers row; govt claims not 'blame game'

The Karnataka government has blamed the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise RCB for theBengaluru stampede in which 11 people lost their lives. In a status report submitted to the High Court, the Congress-led government said the IPL franchise "unilaterally" posted messages on social media calling cricket fans to join the celebratory event of its maiden IPL victory. RCB, the report said, announced that entry was free in the Chinnaswamy Stadium, resulting in the swelling of the crowd to unmanageable numbers outside the gates of the iconic cricket ground. It also pointed out that RCB also posted a video by Indian cricket star Virat Kohli to draw the fans to its festivities.

"On 04.06.2025, the RCB, unilaterally and without consultation/ permission from the Bangalore City Police, posted a photo at 7: 01 a.m on the official RCB handle on social media (Instagram, Facebook, "X") informing that there is free entry for people and inviting the public to participate in the Victory Parade, which would commence at Vidhana Soudha and conclude at Chinnaswamy Stadium. A second post on Social Media was made by RCB at 8:00 a.m. reiterating this information. Subsequently, on 04.06.2025, at 8:55 am, the RCB shared a video clip of Virat Kohli, on RCB's official handle @ @rcbtweets on X, in which he stated that the team intended to celebrate this victory with the people of Bengaluru city and RCB fans on 04.06.2025 in Bengaluru. Thereafter, RCB made one more post at 3:14 p.m. on 04.06.2024, announcing a Victory Parade to be held from Vidhana Soudha to the Chinnaswamy Stadium from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM, stating that this victory parade would be followed by celebrations at the Chinnaswamy Stadium," the report said.

The Karnataka government further said that the information about the distribution of free passes had not been communicated to the authorities by the RCB.

"This post mentioned, for the first and only time, that free passes (limited entry) were available on shop.royalchallengers.com, and until this point, there had been no information regarding the disbursement of passes, implying that the event was open to all based on RCB's prior posts. The posts on RCB's official social media handles garnered immense engagement online ( with the first post receiving approximately 16 lakh views, the second post receiving approximately 4.26 lakh views, the third post receiving approximately 7.6 lakh views, and the fourth post receiving approximately 17 lakh views). Copies of these posts/announcements made by RCB on Social Media are produced herewith as Document No. 4 series (pg 56-61). This led to a public gathering of immense proportions, exceeding 3,00,000 individuals," it further added.

The report said the turnout was far more than expected. It said the event organizers spread confusion by relaying messages at around 3.14 pm on the day of the incident that passes were required for entry, contradicting their earlier statements. "Mismanagement at the entry gates and delayed openings led to a stampede, resulting in injuries to seven police personnel. To prevent further unrest, the police permitted a restricted version of the event to proceed under controlled conditions," it added.

Meanwhile,Karnataka Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said today that the government wasn't trying to play a blame game. He said strict action will be taken against those responsible.

"This is not a blame game here. If there has been some mishandling of the situation, we will take action... Since so many people died, we have to wait for the report before coming to any conclusion," he said.