 "Bengaluru stampede: BCCI insists it had 'no knowledge' of RCB's celebration, will take steps to prevent another tragedy")
Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Arun Dhumal has maintained that while the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was unaware of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) victory celebration on Wednesday that later turned deadly, it will be conducting an investigation and will plan steps to ensure such a tragedy does not occur in the future.
The victorious RCB team celebrated its maiden IPL title at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, their home ground in Bengaluru, on Wednesday – a day after their six-run victory over Punjab Kings in the final in Ahmedabad.
The celebration, however, quickly turned tragic as a stampede broke out outside the 35,000-capacity stadium, where a massive crowd had gathered to catch a glimpse of Virat Kohli, captain Rajat Patidar and other members of the title-winning team, leaving 11 dead and several more injured .
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“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 told news agency Asian News International.
BCCI secretary Saikia says Bengaluru stampede an ’eye-opener’
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia echoed Dhumal’s views, adding that while the board has no control over a franchise’s celebrations, the stampede at Chinnaswamy certainly was an “eye-opener” and should serve as a lesson for the Royal Challengers along with every other franchise in the IPL.
“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.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“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,” he added.
Also Read | Where does the buck stop? Bengaluru stampede another grim reminder of utter lack of accountability?
After offering condolences over the tragic incident, RCB announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the families of the victims, which is also the amount announced by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
RCB’s victory celebrations was also supposed to include an open-top bus parade from the Vidhana Soudha to the Chinnaswamy Stadium, which would have covered a distance of a kilometre. Bengaluru Police, however, denied permission for the parade but allowed the felicitation event at the Chinnaswamy to go ahead.
The Siddaramaiah government has since suspended the Bengaluru Police Commissioner and other top police officials in the aftermath of the tragic incident and has also ordered an investigation, the report of which is expected to be ready in a couple of weeks’ time.
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