- 6/4/2025
In this episode of News Today, the focus is on the tragic stampede at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) IPL victory celebrations that left 11 people dead and over 50 injured.
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00:00Good evening, hello and welcome. You're with the news today. This is your prime time destination. News, newsmakers, talking points. Our big talking point tonight.
00:09Tragedy has struck the celebrations of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru IPL victory. At least 11 people have been killed in a tragic stampede outside Bengaluru's Chinnaswami Stadium.
00:22Tonight, no holds barred. Who will take responsibility for the lapses? Does human life come all too cheap in this country of stampede after stampede?
00:33We'll be getting you all the various angles to that big story. But first, as always, it's time for the Nine Headlines at Nine.
00:41RCB fan frenzy turns fatal. Over 11 killed, 47 injured in a victory parade after a slab. Crumbles just outside the Chinnaswami Stadium.
00:56Injured, rushed to hospital. Only 5,000 police on the streets for lakhs of fans.
01:02Stadium celebration moments after stampede sparks outrage. Chief Minister Siddharamaya says, didn't expect such a large crowd at stadium, cites the Kumbh stampede.
01:21BJP accuses him of negligence, says the government put publicity over public safety.
01:27Population counts, cast census to begin. From March 2027, JNK Ladakh to begin the census exercise from October 2026.
01:43Delimitation of constituencies expected post-census.
01:49Heat on a high court judge over the cash haul row. Judge ouster pushed likely in the July monsoon session of parliament.
01:57Government to consult the opposition. Move comes after a series of high-profile government huddles.
02:05Politics over Operation Sindhu escalates now. BJP launches an all-out attack after Rahul Gandhi's Narendra surrender jaip.
02:13J.P. Nada says Congress histories of surrendering to terror and appeasement politics.
02:18J.P. Nada YouTube held in Park's spying ring. YouTuber Jaspeer Singh held for allegedly spying for Pakistan.
02:27He had travelled to Pakistan thrice. Allegedly leaked vital information to ISI.
02:32An India Today impact. Missing Indians in Iran found went missing in May. Three Indians rescued.
02:41Kinn alleged abduction prompted embassy action.
02:46Donald Trump's 50% tariffs on foreign steel and aluminium come into effect.
02:51White House has moved to prevent foreign products getting over the fence and stealing American industry.
02:56Indian steel producers fear they could be affected.
02:59Kinn
03:24Cricket fans caught in crowd crush.
03:40Karnataka government caught napping.
03:48Who will be held accountable?
04:00That's right.
04:01The big story at the moment, 11 people, at least 11 people have been killed, 47 injured
04:05in the Bengaluru stampede.
04:07Those images that you saw on your screen a short while ago, when a drain slab collapsed
04:13outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium's gate number 5, leading to that stampede even as massive
04:19crowds had gathered to celebrate Royal Challenger Bengaluru's victory in the IPL last night.
04:26The Chief Minister Siddharamaya claims the crowd was very large and uncontrollable.
04:31The Chief Minister has announced 10 lakh compensation for the disease.
04:34Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condoled the stampede deaths.
04:38But the truth of the matter is there are several questions unanswered.
04:43This is a stampede, surely, that could have been prevented.
04:47Why was the Karnataka administration caught napping?
04:52Why was it that despite police permission not being granted initially, was such a large
04:58crowd allowed to assemble at the KSCA Chinnaswamy Stadium?
05:05And importantly, once the news of the stampede trickled in, why did the celebration still continue?
05:12Lots of questions including primarily the question of accountability.
05:16Joining me now, Sagai Raj, live from Bengaluru.
05:19Nagarjun Dwarkhanath, our Bengaluru Bureau Chief, is also live.
05:23Apoorva Jayachandran is also live from outside the Boring Hospital in Bengaluru.
05:29First to you, Nagarjun, please tell us that central question, who is accountable?
05:34I am now being told the police said no to a motorcade, allowed the celebrations to be restricted
05:41to the Vidant Sauda first and then the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
05:44But how can, was the government not prepared for the large surge of crowds?
05:49Or was this a temporary slab that collapsed because of gross negligence?
05:53The Chief Minister is saying that we expected 50,000 crowd, while 3 lakh people assembled
06:01at the stadium, 1 lakh at Vidant Sauda.
06:03So total would be around 4 lakh people in a span of 400 to 500 meters.
06:07And hence, it was outnumbered, the police were outnumbered by the crowd.
06:10And secondly, the Chief Minister also mentioned that the stadium event was hosted by RCB,
06:15as well as the Chinnaswamy Association, the Karnataka Street Cricket Association.
06:19How can we tell them to stop, irrespective of what our opinion is?
06:23We told them that the moment the deaths happened, D.K. Shukma said,
06:27I went to the stadium myself, I spoke to Kohli, I spoke to Rajat Patidar,
06:30I spoke to the Cricket Association saying, you have just 10 minutes.
06:33We have to respect what has happened at the stadium.
06:35Let's wrap up what has happened in 10 minutes and go back to the hotel.
06:38It's not safe for the players also to stay back in the stadium.
06:43And also respect what has happened is what D.K. Shukma said.
06:46Overall, it seems like it was unexpected numbers that turned up.
06:50But in hindsight, even many congressmen feel that there should have been more police deployed.
06:55Maybe if the Bangalore City police were outnumbered,
06:58taking police from neighboring districts.
07:00And what the government is saying is that we had two less time.
07:03One o'clock the match ended and this morning RCB told us that they would have a parade.
07:07We told them don't have a parade, just have it in the stadium.
07:10And hence this miscommunication in between all of this.
07:12Police were clearly outnumbered and the people and the fans were in four lakh in number.
07:17I want to come at this moment to Apoorva Jayachandran.
07:20You are outside the Bowering Hospital where many of the injured are already being treated.
07:25Where many of them are young children we are told.
07:28Some of those who have died are 11 and 12 years old.
07:31So clearly it's the young, the innocent, the most youngest among the fans who seem to have suffered.
07:39Because they just couldn't handle the crowd surge.
07:41Can you give us some more details in the hospital?
07:44How many people are critical?
07:47Well definitely because the numbers that you saw on the streets as well as here at the hospital
07:57as well.
07:58Most of the people who were injured were all young fans of RCB.
08:02You know one of the persons who were deceased was also a young girl, a 14 year old child
08:07who had also died in this unfortunate stampede that had taken place.
08:10We are here outside the Bowering Hospital and what we are getting to learn from sources is
08:15that here in Bowering there are around 7 people deceased while at Bowering Hospital.
08:30Some of them were grievous injuries, be it a fractured leg or a splint or some sort of injury
08:36or other that had taken place unfortunately in this incident that had taken place.
08:41And one of the important things that must be pointed out is that the number of people
08:46who had gathered there, the fans that were there on the ground, they were eagerly awaiting
08:53for RCB to come to Chinnaswamy Stadium.
08:56They had been waiting to see when they will get a glimpse of Virat Kohli, when they will
09:01be able to get a glimpse of Rajat and the other players of RCB.
09:04So you know 18 years long that they have waited for this cup to reach back to base in Bengaluru.
09:10But unfortunately, the outcome of what had happened definitely…
09:16Look, you can wait for 18 years, you can wait for 80 years.
09:19The truth of the matter is, what has happened is unacceptable.
09:23Nikhil, Nikhil Nas, you're joining me even as ambulance pictures are being shown there by Apoorva.
09:29Ambulance is moving in and out of the hospital.
09:33The BCCI, is it in any way accountable or is all the blame to be shifted to the state government,
09:40Karnataka state government or RCB, the franchise that organized the celebration?
09:44What are you picking up?
09:46Was this a celebration, entirely a private event of the RCB with the support of the state government?
09:52When it came to Shib Kumar, DK Shib Kumar lifting the trophy and I'll play that picture.
09:57He is lifting the trophy in the stadium.
10:00Mr. Siddharamaya is pictured along with Virat Kohli.
10:04Let's play those pictures of DK Shib Kumar with the trophy as well as Siddharamaya.
10:11Please tell me Nikhil, who was organizing this function?
10:15Well, you know, Rajdeep, it just can't be, you can't pin the entire blame on RCB.
10:26That's the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
10:28I think, as you mentioned, the state government, they were there at the Vidant Soda.
10:32Then there were photo ops as we saw at the ground itself.
10:36And it was a big occasion for the dispensation also to prove that, listen, after 18 long years,
10:42RCB have won the title while they are running the government here.
10:45So, if that is the case, the local government, the local authorities have to be answerable for this.
10:50Yes, this was also an event by the RCB.
10:53At the moment, you could say that BCCI in that sense had no skin in the game
10:57because, as you know, you've had champions before this in the IPL.
11:00And on those occasions, you haven't had this sort of a scenario where there's been an open bus parade
11:05or at least they planned to do an open bus parade.
11:07But whose idea was it? If I may ask you, Nikhil, whose idea was it?
11:10There was some sort of miscommunication.
11:12Whose idea was it? Because last night itself, there was talk of celebrations in Bengaluru.
11:16This was, of course, the franchises.
11:17Whose idea was it to have this celebration of this kind?
11:20We haven't seen this in any other city after an IPL triumph.
11:24This is not an India team. This is an IPL team.
11:27Whose idea was it?
11:31Well, this is, of course, the idea of the franchise, Rajdeep.
11:34But I don't think that the idea is a problem here.
11:36Just because all other franchises did not do it,
11:39does not then in any way suggest that RCB should also not be doing it.
11:43See, the number of people that turned up to watch,
11:45I don't think the number of people or the fans turning up is an issue.
11:48The fans clearly love this franchise.
11:50The scenes that I saw today, the number of people turning up.
11:53For me personally, and for you as well,
11:56this would not rival a victory of a World Cup standard.
12:00But in terms of people that turned up for them, it was as big as that.
12:03So, I don't think the franchise in that sense is wrong to be planning such an event.
12:07We've seen it with other private franchises in other sports as well.
12:10NBA, soccer, they all do it.
12:12I think at the end of the day, the buck stops with the organizers.
12:15The buck stops with the state government.
12:17When you have a match here in Bengaluru, you have the state police.
12:20You also have the private security.
12:22You saw the state police here.
12:24You saw the private security also put...
12:26I think the biggest problem here was miscommunication.
12:29Now, what usually happens?
12:30What is the usual protocol?
12:31You have a match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, 30,000 odd people turn up.
12:35So, you prepare for that.
12:37The police personnel that are there are, you know, keeping in mind there will be 30,000 people.
12:42And the private security is keeping in mind 30,000 people.
12:45This time, the miscommunication is, you put a post out saying that,
12:48listen, we are celebrating, come to the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
12:51On usual match day, only 30,000 people that have match tickets turn up.
12:55Here, there were 300,000 people that turn up because they didn't know how to get inside.
12:59Or were there any tickets that were needed?
13:01Everyone wanted to be part of the celebration.
13:03Sorry, Nikhil, you know, everyone wants to be part of a celebration.
13:06Then the state government, when such posts are put out, the state government should have prepared accordingly.
13:12Obviously, if you are going to give an open invite and lakhs of people, remember, come through the narrow streets of Bengaluru and the narrow gates leading into Chinnaswamy Stadium, then questions will be asked, of course and rightfully so, of the state government and the local administration.
13:26Sagai, I'll come to you in a moment because I want to play what an eyewitness said.
13:30Let's listen in to an eyewitness who was there at that moment.
13:33Saga, you've been talking to a lot of eyewitnesses.
13:57What are they saying?
13:58Who are they holding responsible?
14:00Were there enough policemen at the spot?
14:02I saw images of just a couple of policemen surrounded by thousands of people.
14:07Nagarjan was pointing out the policemen were outnumbered by the fans who were gathered outside Chinnaswamy Stadium.
14:15And government should be aware that whenever there is a match which happens, there are around 50,000 to 60,000 people, though the stadium can accommodate only around 35,000 people.
14:26So, they should have anticipated that there will be more than a lack of people outside the stadium.
14:30They could have made a proper arrangement.
14:32No matter whether they celebrate today or they are going to celebrate on Saturday or Sunday or any other day, definitely the crowd will be like this.
14:39It is a failure of intelligence.
14:40They should be aware that there will be a large number of people who will be gathered.
14:43And accordingly, they could have made some kind of arrangement.
14:46And people are aware there.
14:48They were a frenzy crowd.
14:50Everybody wants to get inside.
14:51The problem is that if they would have opened the gates in the morning, this wouldn't have happened.
14:55They opened around 2.30 and they said, cost come, cost serve.
14:59There is no ticket charges.
15:01There is no money paid for them.
15:02It is free of cost.
15:03Anybody can go inside.
15:04So, once the gates opened, everybody started to rush inside.
15:08That's when these kind of stampings happened.
15:10If at all, if they had opened the morning, probably this wouldn't have happened.
15:13Sudden opening of the gates, many people jumped the barricades.
15:17Many people gatecrash.
15:18Many people even climbed the walls of the stadium and tried to get inside the stadium.
15:24That is the kind of situation that the police have to go through.
15:27The police even resorted to Nathita.
15:28Thankfully, they resorted to Nathita.
15:30That's the reason they could save more people probably.
15:32If not, there would have been more people involved in the stampings.
15:36The fact is, though, that's a major intelligence failure as you are rightly saying.
15:42I want to play what Chief Minister Siddharth Mahiya and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivkumar have said.
15:48Remember, they are really facing the eye of the storm.
15:51Particularly DK Shivkumar, who was holding that trophy with Virat Kohli and other RCB players inside the stadium
15:59even as reports began to stream in of the stampede outside.
16:02Listen in to what they had to say.
16:06It is Cricket State, Cricket Association which arranged the program.
16:10See, earlier also, the same police people were doing the security job.
16:16During the matches.
16:18This time also, they were doing this security job.
16:22See, of course, it should not have happened.
16:26This tragedy should not have happened.
16:30We are with the sufferers, victims.
16:35We never expected such an incident would have happened.
16:40Of course, no one wants, no political party or no officials doesn't want.
16:47They have done their best in their lives.
16:49But it was uncontrollable crowd.
16:51We never expected such a big falling.
16:53After 18 years, they have been looking at something great, something great.
16:58It was a team effort which has happened.
17:01And you see the thick crowd.
17:03They have left all their jobs, all their places and their bed.
17:07The entire Vidanshota came on the street outside.
17:10I could see the Manipal Hospital, all the other IT people.
17:15Everything worked out.
17:16HAL, entire HAL staff was there in the airport itself.
17:20And joining me now is another special guest.
17:23I'm joined by Aroon Dhumal, the IPL chairperson of the organizing committee.
17:28Appreciate you joining us, Mr. Dhumal.
17:31Very, very tragic what's happened in Bengaluru.
17:33Where does the buck stop?
17:35Does it stop with the RCB franchise, the KSCA organizers, the Karnataka state government, or indeed the BCCI and the IPL?
17:45Who will take accountability for the loss of life, sir?
17:50Indeed, very tragic, Rajdeep, the loss of life.
17:52What should have been a day of celebration today ended in a tragic day.
17:56And I would like to convey my heartfelt condolences to all the families who've lost their loved ones.
18:02Indeed, very tragic, but you understand and you know cricket very well.
18:07For BCSI, the IPL ended last night.
18:09Whatever celebrations were to happen, it culminated with the ceremony that we had last night.
18:15Now, how this incident took place, we have no knowledge of it.
18:19We had no idea of this kind of event taking place in Bengaluru.
18:23As you would have noticed, there was no BCSI official present there.
18:26And we don't know how it...
18:28So, you're saying you all had no idea of these celebrations?
18:31So, who was responsible for these celebrations?
18:34RCB, the franchise, Karnataka State Cricket Association, or the state government, Mr. Dhumal?
18:39This is for them to find out. How can I say here when I have no knowledge of what is taking place in Bangalore?
18:48So, you all are saying as far as you are concerned, the IPL ended last night.
18:53These celebrations are a private event that are conducted either by the franchise or the association or the government.
19:01Am I correct?
19:02Very right. And as you could recall, we had to stop the game in between in Dharamshala.
19:08But I was personally there and we ensured that each one of those 25,000 people present there leave the stadium safe and sound.
19:17But should the BCCI have at least some coordination with the organizers of this festival or is the BCCI going to say,
19:27that we don't have to take it.
19:30See, for BCCI IPL ended last night. When we had no knowledge of any such program, how can BCCI be responsible for anything like this?
19:39It is indeed very tragic and we would like to convey our heartfelt condolences, but we can't be held responsible for anything which we had no role to play.
19:48But Karnataka State Cricket Association comes under BCCI. The ceremonies were being held at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
19:55This stampede has taken place just outside gate 5 of Chinnaswamy Stadium.
19:59Surely the KSCA will have to order also an inquiry. Their role will also have to be questioned or not?
20:05See, I am not sure whether stampede happened outside Vidhan Sad or the stadium. I have no knowledge of that. And who organized this event? I have no knowledge.
20:16Have you seen any of the BCCI officials present there and facilitating any of the players or the team?
20:23Will you question as IPL chairman RCB, which is the franchise which in a way is accountable to the IPL?
20:30I have no knowledge as to whether fans came on their own or who called them and who had gone there to felicitate them.
20:38It is for the administration there to check as to what went wrong and make sure this kind of incident never took place in future.
20:46Have you been in touch with any of the RCB officials, Mr. Doomal? Has anybody responded?
20:52As soon as I got to know of it, I spoke to them and I told them and they were inside the stadium.
20:58They had no knowledge of what was happening outside is what I was given to understand.
21:01And they told me we are calling off the event immediately and they did so, I feel.
21:05Okay. Arun Dhumal ji, for joining me and telling us where the IPL committee stands on what this tragedy, unimaginable tragedy that's taken place in Bengaluru.
21:17I appreciate you joining me. Thank you so much.
21:19Thank you so much.
21:20Okay, let me raise some big questions. Why did the celebrations continue despite the stampede that took place outside?
21:27Why didn't the Karnataka government anticipate the large surge of crowds? How can they distance themselves from it?
21:33Why weren't proper crowd control measures taken by the local administration?
21:37Who takes responsibility for the lack of planning? Where does the buck stop? That's the big question.
21:42Will accountability be now fixed for the disaster or will we see passing the buck?
21:46Particularly with the Congress government there in Karnataka.
21:49Joining me now, special guest Syed Kirmani, 1983 World Cup winning team member, one of the proud sons of Karnataka cricket, Sanjay Sahai.
21:58Former IPS officer, ex-ADGP Karnataka. Revati Ashok is CEO and managing trustee of BPAC that looks for a better Bangalore.
22:07Kuldeep Dantewata is co-founder and CEO. Reap Benefit.
22:10I appreciate all citizens joining me at this moment, but I first want to come to you Sanjay Sahai.
22:16Why do you accept that this has been a gross negligence?
22:19You've got lakhs of people at a stadium and you just don't have adequate police control.
22:24Surely police intelligence has grossly failed.
22:27See, first and foremost, I think in the press conference with the Honorable Chief Minister addressed,
22:33he is claiming that the event in Chinnaswami Stadium was a private event. Point number one.
22:39Point number two, he says that two to three lakh people came where the capacity was 35,000.
22:45How do three lakh people trickle in without the police knowing of it?
22:50Number three, when he was ordering the magistral inquiry, he somehow, I think he was giving a direction to that magistral inquiry as nothing great would come out of it.
23:00So, as you see, as any layman would see, we don't need any prism of a police officer.
23:06That there was barely any planning as far as the Chinnaswami Stadium.
23:10No, so where does the buck stop? Where does the buck stop?
23:13Chief Minister Siddharamaya? Does it stop with Mr. D.K. Shivkumar who is the minister in charge of Bangalore?
23:18Does it stop with RCB? Does it stop with the police?
23:21Rajdev, I will not be able to tell you exactly whether it stops with D.K. Shivkumar or Mr. Siddharamaya or whosoever.
23:30All I can tell you is that security is the job of the police.
23:35And even if it is a private event, and even if they have not taken permission, they were aware of the fact that this event is happening, period.
23:45And if this event was happening, they could have either stopped or they could have made arrangements to a level that nothing of this nature could have happened.
23:53The traffic management was not in place. People came from all over the site. There is absolutely nothing. You see the visuals.
24:00Inclusive of the ambulance. So, if the security for security, not only in Karnataka, anywhere in this country, security, the buck stops with the state government.
24:10Okay. And with the state government, haa. And if you said they did not inform us, it was a private event, then what is the state government doing?
24:18No, no, what kind of private event? I am sorry, private event where Mr. D.K. Shivkumar, Mr. Siddharamaya are celebrating with the players once in Vidant Sauda, once in Chinnaswami Stadium.
24:27This private event is all very well. At the end of the day, it involves the citizens of Karnataka who are public citizens. They have been invited to come to an event.
24:36So, let's not… this private event is a bogus… bogus argument.
24:40No, I will tell you. I will tell you. I will make two, three very small points. Events have taken over our existence.
24:47And as the IPL chairman was talking about, they are only bothered about the money flow. Crash commercialization, nothing else. And lame excuses are the order of the day.
24:58So, the capability to create man-made fatal accidents and incidents and able to get away with it. I think that is the crux of the problem.
25:07Point well taken, Dr. Sai. In fact, I want to turn to Syed Kirmani. Crass commercialization of the event. When the IPL takes place, money is flowing.
25:18You've got super rich cricketers. You've got the netas wanting to associate with the winning team.
25:23The point is, when you won the 83 World Cup before that, there used to be large crowds.
25:29My father won in 1971 England. I have seen crowds surging at the Mumbai airport.
25:34But now something seems to have reached a stage where the fan frenzy was such that a government doesn't anticipate your first reactions, Syed Kirmani, to what has really cast a shadow over RCB's victory.
25:47Firstly, my condolences to the bereaved families.
25:52Right. And now, this was a deadly welcome of IPL to the IPL champions of 2025.
26:01Now, in our time, there was no such media hype. There was no television.
26:07There was no such thing which could lead to such kind of speculation which is going on right now.
26:14So, on that count, I suppose it is RCB wanted, waited for 17 long years to be the champions.
26:25Now, the organizers, whoever it may be, they should have also waited for a while to settle down things and then organize a wonderful show to felicitate these great heroes of RCB.
26:40Very good point. You are saying, you are saying if you want to have a celebration, plan it out well, don't do it the very next morning within 24 hours.
26:47Absolutely. Absolutely. Because there was no time for these players all to settle down.
26:52Immediately, they took a flight back into Bangalore and you see, it was too early to make required arrangements.
27:02That's a very good point. That's a very, very good point you make there. I want to turn to Revati Ashok.
27:09Revati Ashok, your CEO and managing trustee BPAC. This is a group which is designed to make Bangalore a better city.
27:14These images are going to do Bangalore no credit. I mean, this is the city which has seen itself as the IT software capital, India's 21st century city.
27:23What do we see? Very, very poor crowd management fan frenzy reaching a point where a slab collapses.
27:31More than a dozen people, at least 11 are feared dead. I mean, what does this do to Bangalore?
27:36What does it say about the quality of local governance and administration?
27:41Yes, Rajdeep. First, let me take a moment to condole the very tragic deaths of 11 people and the 50 people, about 50 people who are injured.
27:55I think no words to express grief that we feel today. I was around that location. So, I know what kind of crowds there were.
28:05I think, you know, we have seen this repeatedly, not just of this one. We have seen religious events.
28:17We have seen public entertainment events. We have seen crowd management has never been a strength of this country.
28:25We have repeatedly failed. We don't learn from experiences. The recent experiences we have had three to four, three to six months before where tragic deaths had happened.
28:37We need to have, you know, we need to have, you know, today we can use technology so effectively in a city like IT city like Bangalore.
28:46Now, why can we not use crowd management, good crowd management solutions, where you can anticipate no person, this is not just an issue of physical barricade.
28:59This is not just an issue of having X number of police people deployed, maybe 5,000 policemen were deployed. This is not just that. It is about understanding when crowds are surging.
29:14Right.
29:15About a kilometer away, you have to create a kind of a fence, you know, an artificial fence where you don't allow people beyond that limit. So that closer to that location. So many things can be done.
29:27You can completely block off all vehicles. The problem, if I may say so, ma'am, is human life comes cheap in this country.
29:34And the truth of the matter is, as Syed Kirmani has rightly pointed out, Bengaluru wins this match at midnight. Within 12 hours, you want to have these grand celebrations.
29:45This could have waited. This could have waited, been properly done with respect to the players, the franchise, which has done the city so proud.
29:52What was the urgency to try and create this show, what I would, some would call a bit of a tamasha in the end. Kuldeep Dantewadia, your co-founder and CEO, Reap Benefit.
30:03I mean, does Bengaluru feel today let down in a way? Do you feel as a Bangalorean, as an Indian let down by the images you've seen?
30:12Firstly, condolences to the families who have lost these people. It was supposed to be a joyous occasion. It was supposed to be a celebratory occasion.
30:23It was supposed to be an occasion which was getting Bangalore together. So keeping that in mind, it's disappointing, tragic, but also frustrating.
30:31This was completely preventable. And when you see fans who love the sport, who love the team, who have showed up there and have lost their lives, this is absolutely tragic and disappointing and absolutely preventable.
30:45And that is the saddest part about this. And this is no secret. It was obvious that large number of citizens are going to turn up. Large number of citizens are going to support the team.
31:00There are already existing protocols which are there, the NDMA protocols which are there. All it needed was preparation. We have the plans on paper, it needed preparation.
31:09So as a Bangalorean, I feel not only let down, but I feel sad that an occasion which was supposed to bring the city together is now leaving a bitter taste in everyone's mouth.
31:21And the celebration has gone so wrong. And we might have the plans on paper, but there is absolute zero preparation on the ground.
31:28You know, but we saw Sanjay Sahai when the Indian team last year won the World T20 tournament. Large crowds in Mumbai, but well managed by and large.
31:39Yes, there was fan frenzy. There always is, but they were well managed. Is there something there for the Karnataka state government will have to answer for?
31:47Because were they simply not able to understand? You've done intelligence. Surely intelligence would have told them that the lakhs of people were gathering and by then they should have put a different protocol in place.
32:00You can't tell me, as Siddharamaya is saying, there are 30,000 people in Chinnaswamy, so only 30,000 will come.
32:07See, leave aside the intelligence part of it. Any gathering, you will calculate at a level which the experts tell you.
32:14And experts and the police officers, there are enough of inspectors and DSPs and ACPs who will tell you that nearly the exact numbers will come.
32:22But who has the time and energy to take those inputs? What has happened and what has become the order of the day that every planning is being done from the top level and once the decision is made, everybody needs to comply.
32:35And if something goes awry, from the top below, these people escape in a variety of ways.
32:40No, but could it have been all, you know, given the fact as I said that the celebrations were decided upon at midnight when RCB won, did the police also need more time or did they have sufficient time to organize in your view?
32:50See, there are two things. Rajdeep, there are two things. One is if you go by the normal course of events, you need more time.
32:56But if you are ready in a mood to do something 12 hours down the line, 16 hours down the line, there are different methods by which happen.
33:03So you put RAF in place, you get forces from outside, you decide, you talk to people, you do the communication.
33:10It is not that the geography is unknown to us, it is not that the population is unknown to us, it is not that we will not be able to get the input.
33:17But that is a tough job and that has to be done with huge amount of planning, some amount of risk, execution and very precise monitoring operations and things of that nature.
33:27Okay. Before I come to you, Syed Kirmani, I just want to play what Rajiv Shukla, who's likely to be the next BCCI president, he's also a Congress MP.
33:36He was asked these questions also. Is the BCCI just going to wash its hands off saying the IPL ended yesterday.
33:42After that, we have nothing to do with what happens on the streets or at a Chinnaswami stadium of the KSEA.
33:48Listen in to what Rajiv Shukla, the Congress MP had to say.
33:52I think it should not be politicized because this is a cricket function.
33:59We should not bring politics into cricket and it can happen in any state.
34:04That means the party in power there should not be blamed for this, you know.
34:09First, we should ascertain the facts. After that, we should decide what should happen and who is responsible.
34:15So, I think it should not be politicized at all. It can happen in any state, ruled by any political party.
34:25That means if at times it happens in some state where BJP is in power, we should not blame BJP also.
34:31We should not blame BJP also.
34:36We should not blame BJP.
34:38Sayyad Kirmani, do you believe somewhere that cricket has also, that the cricket administration also needs to introspect that the KSEA, you are a part of it.
34:48That this was taking place at the Chinnaswami stadium.
34:50They too will have to be held accountable just as much as the Siddharamaya government will have to be held accountable tonight.
34:57Well, I suppose all the administration in Karnataka should get together and solve this problem.
35:04I have no right to comment about this, Rajdeep. I am a cricketer all right. I am not attached to KSEA at the moment. I am not a member of the KSEA.
35:14What's the difference, if I may then ask, between the fans of your generation and today's fans?
35:19Well, the fans of our time were not as crazy as the fans of today, particularly the IPM.
35:30The crazy fans are unbelievable, unimaginable, particularly as you could see that lacks and lacks of people were around Chinnaswami stadium just to greet and get a glimpse of these great heroes of IPM.
35:48Right. Revati Ashok, what would you tell, if you had one line to tell Mr. Siddharamaya and Shiv Kumar today?
35:54People who are happily posing with the cricketers but now are refusing to take any responsibility for what happened.
36:01What would you want to tell them as a citizen of Bengaluru?
36:04I think better planning to take more care. I think ensuring that we had many things.
36:13No vehicles were blocked off. You should have vehicles blocked off. Many people are walking.
36:20Have a fencing done at least one kilometer away. You can keep people away so that as the crowd surges, you can keep them at bay there.
36:32And if the crowd is not… because it's very difficult to exactly determine the crowd. But that is where technology comes in.
36:40I think whether there was sufficient use of technology and use in a manner in which you effectively take decisions, I'm not very sure.
36:49Because it didn't look from the images, it doesn't look like there was much use of technology in this case.
36:56Right. I just want to ask you, therefore, Kuldeep Dhandewadia, do you want politicians to step down every time this happens?
37:01And I'm going to be joined by a couple of politicians in a moment. Each one wants the other to step down. Do you believe that's the answer? Is that how accountability should be fixed?
37:10No, I think what they can do, I mean to say, if they really mean what they say is take accountability, fix accountability and be better prepared.
37:21They'll fix it on some low-level police constabulary.
37:25And that's the unfortunate part. If they can take accountability, I think we'll be moving forward or else we'll just be doing this musical chairs every single time.
37:34Okay. Interesting comments coming in from my guests. This is why Bengaluru is a city where citizens are very active, conscious, angry today, because that is the general mood.
37:45There is anger over a tragedy that could have been prevented. I re-emphasize, a tragedy that could have been prevented.
37:52Appreciate my guests joining me on the show at this moment. Stay well, all of you, particularly Mr. Sayyed Kirmani. Always good to see you, sir.
38:00I want to turn from there to our two politicians. Rizwan Arshad is a Congress MLA from Bengaluru.
38:06Bharat Shetty is a BJP MLA in Karnataka. Appreciate your joining us.
38:10Rizwan Arshad, when the Uttar Pradesh Kumbh Mela stampede happened, immediately the Congress wanted the resignation of Yogi Arithyanar.
38:18When there was a stampede at the Delhi railway station, you wanted Ashwini Vaishnav to resign.
38:24Is any Congress Minister going to say, Mia Kalpa, whether Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister or anyone else, and say, look, we will take responsibility?
38:34It's a very, very tragic incident, which should have been prevented. I don't want to say that there is nothing which has not gone. I mean, everything has gone properly. Nothing has gone wrong and all that.
38:47Yes, of course, the crowd was more than what it was anticipated. The stadium's capacity was 33,000. The crowd was three to four lakhs.
38:56And there was, I mean, some sort of situation where we have lost tragically 11 lives, Rajiv. I don't want to, I mean, support any kind of things.
39:10But yes, the government has felt there is a need to inquire. We have ordered a magistral inquiry, a time bound 15 days inquiry. And this magistral inquiry will definitely come out.
39:22Where some lower level police officer will be held accountable for the area around Chinnaswami Stadium. I mean, all these celebrations within 12 hours of the triumph.
39:33Clearly, Bengaluru was not prepared for it. There was lack of intelligence. Surely someone, D.K. Shipkumar is minister in charge of Bengaluru, happily posing with the trophy.
39:41Siddharamaya inviting the cricketers to Vidant Soudha, where there is more celebration. So when there is celebration, you all want to associate with the cricketers. Now you will put some lower level constabulary in the dock.
39:52No, no, no, no, no. It will not be like that, Rajiv. The magistral inquiry will definitely come out with facts because it is a kind of a serious inquiry. It will come out with facts. Who are the people who are, I mean, responsible for managing what they had to do? Is there anything which has gone wrong?
40:15And definitely, it is going to be serious. And government has told very clearly that we will definitely roll heads once the magistral inquiry comes out with the facts of the matter.
40:27But there are many things which can, at the hindsight, we can now understand and tell and which could have been that much better.
40:34So one of the things is that overnight, when RCB won and the Cricket Association wanted to celebrate, I think we should have paused for a time, taken a little more time, done it much better.
40:49That could have been done. I don't disagree with that.
40:53So at least you are admitting to that. That's a very important point that Syed Kirmani made.
40:57What was the need for the hurry to hold such celebration within 12 hours of the victory? Couldn't you have planned it better?
41:03Bharat Shetty of the BJP, you are calling for resignations and accountability.
41:08When we called for accountability in Uttar Pradesh with Yogi Adityanath, then the BJP stays silent.
41:15This is classic, you know, this is the hypocrisy of our politicians.
41:20When it is a Congress government, you want resignations. BJP government, no resignations.
41:27Radhip, it is a very tragic day for all the cricketing fans in Karnataka.
41:31Now, regarding the blame game and political upmanship, it is different.
41:38It is a tragedy that has happened and we should not be doing politics over it.
41:42But putting things in the perspective, why there was a program done by the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister
41:51at the Vidhan Sauda in a hurry. All the police personnels who were supposed to stand outside Sinaswami Stadium and take care of the crowd
42:01were posted outside Vidhan Sauda so that these VIPs, these ministers can have a, take a political mileage of this RCB win.
42:11This is a shameful thing. Forget what heads are going to roll. Forget about the resignations.
42:17Forget about his blame games and everything. Why another program was done in such a hurry in front of Vidhan Sauda?
42:25We need answers for that.
42:26Rizman Arshad, I know as you said that time, some role will be possible to be suspended.
42:32But why another problem was done in a hurry?
42:35When the World Cup victory was there in Mumbai, a big, almost a seven day of more than four to five day gap was done for the preparation.
42:44Here, it was done in a hurry.
42:47Deputy team goes to the tarmac, welcomes all the players and gets them to Vidhan South.
42:52And all the police personnel are posted in Vidhan South.
42:57They are supposed to be putting barricades and taking care of the, doing crowd control at Shinnaswami Stadium.
43:04Okay, let Rizman Arshad respond to that.
43:07Rizman Arshad, was this an event where the Karnataka government wanted to identify with the successful players?
43:14I know Siddharamaya is a big cricket fan.
43:16D.K. Shiv Kumar likes to be part of such events.
43:19So, did they, did they push the RCB to organize such an event?
43:24There is one view that they pushed the RCB to organize such an event.
43:28RCB hasn't yet clarified that.
43:31They've issued a statement, amended our program after the incident is what they are claiming.
43:35But was there pressure from the government to organize this event at such short notice?
43:40Why would the government...
43:42One minute, Mr. Shanti.
43:43Can I...
43:44Let him speak now.
43:45Let Rizman speak.
43:46I have heard him very patiently.
43:48Let him also hear me.
43:51Why would the government pressurize Rajdeep?
43:53It was the request of the Karnataka State Cricket Association to organize it.
43:57And they were, they have their primary organization, they had primarily organized it in the stadium.
44:06Yes, Karnataka government did organize it in front of Vidant Souda and more than a lakh people did gather there.
44:14I want to tell Mr. Bharat Shetty that he is trying to mislead here, saying that all the police personnel were here.
44:21Or does that the way it works, that the police will run and come to Vidant Souda and run and go back to a stadium?
44:27It doesn't work like that.
44:28Had we not organized one more parallel program in front of Vidant Souda, this one lakh crowd would have added in the stadium.
44:38The stadium's capacity was 33,000.
44:41There were more than three lakh people who were trying to enter the stadium.
44:44And if there was no Vidant Souda program, one lakh more crowd would have gone to the stadium.
44:49That would have been a bigger tragedy, which fortunately got averted.
44:54And I want to tell you very clearly, this war night decisions to celebrate, whoever it might be, is not good.
45:05We are a cricket-crazy nation.
45:07We need to understand that people are very emotive.
45:10The whole Bangalore was emotional.
45:12There were lots of people who came out to the stadium.
45:15And we are not absolving ourselves of the responsibility.
45:19That's why we have ordered an inquiry.
45:21We will do a free and fair inquiry and come out with facts to the public.
45:27And then the government will take action.
45:29I would also like to tell my friend, Mr. Bharat Shetty,
45:32that you strategically did the strategy to organize Kumbu Mela for two years.
45:39For two long years, you made all the plans and propaganda.
45:45And still, there are hundreds and hundreds of people which were killed.
45:48So, I'm not doing it politically.
45:50I want to...
45:51See, we should hear...
45:53Okay, okay.
45:54This one, I've heard you.
45:56You know, Bharat Shetty.
45:58Bharat Shetty, one minute.
45:59Bharat Shetty.
46:00It's not just...
46:01And I'll put out a list of all the stampedes that we've had in the last one year.
46:05The tragedy, there's been one in Kumb.
46:07There was the Delhi stampede at the railway station.
46:10There was a stampede in Goa.
46:11Small Goa, which is BJP ruled in that instance.
46:15Outside a temple, unprecedented stampede.
46:17So, deadly stampedes in India, I can go through a long list.
46:21And each of you will blame the other.
46:24I want to understand from you, Bharat Shetty,
46:26that do you believe, do you believe that resignations of some important politicians will solve the issue?
46:32Or we will simply have to wait till the next stampede?
46:35And it depends on which government is in power then.
46:38See, I'm not talking about resignations here.
46:40We are not talking about resignations here.
46:42We want answers.
46:44As he said,
46:44In Vidana Sauda, you should have given time.
46:47Take four, five days' time.
46:49Arrange it properly.
46:50What was the hurry to do a program in Vidana Sauda?
46:53Because of the program in Vidana Sauda,
46:55people started piling up at Chinnaswami Stadium also.
46:59And all the police persons were divided.
47:01Half was here, half was there.
47:04There was an haphazard arrangement.
47:06Nothing was clear.
47:07Even I have heard that from,
47:09not from the unofficial sources,
47:12that the police have told not to do programs at two places.
47:15Sidra Mahi and D.K. Shukumar insisted
47:17that there should be one program outside of Vidana Sauda.
47:20Yes.
47:21That is a problem.
47:23You're saying that you're accusing the state government
47:26of putting pressure in a way on the organizers
47:29to have two programs,
47:31one at Vidana Sauda,
47:32one at Chinnaswami Stadium.
47:33Yes.
47:33And that, according to you,
47:36was a part of the problem.
47:38Point taken there.
47:39But Rizwan Arshad,
47:41therefore, what is the big,
47:42is there a learning?
47:43Will someone in Bengaluru wake up
47:46to what has gone wrong?
47:47Once the inquiry is ordered,
47:49tomorrow we'll move on,
47:50the media cameras will move on
47:51and everything will be forgotten.
47:53That's the worry.
47:54Stampedes become only 24-hour events.
47:57It's not only Agha government
47:58or our state, Rajdeep.
48:00We, as a nation,
48:01we always have to anticipate
48:04that we, as a cricket-crazy nation,
48:07are very different emotional people.
48:10There are lots of people which gather.
48:13We should refrain from deciding
48:15in one war night
48:17that we should have celebrations.
48:18That is what we need to take it and go.
48:21And here, I would like to say,
48:23refute that the government insisted on that.
48:26Since they were having a celebration,
48:27the government, too, had a celebration.
48:29Here, these are two different things.
48:31But having said that...
48:32But why should the government...
48:34You know, Rizwan,
48:35my limited problem is,
48:37what is the government involvement?
48:39This is a private event.
48:40IPL is a private franchise event.
48:42Let RCB celebrate.
48:43Why does the government have to get involved?
48:45And have it...
48:45This is not an Indian team.
48:48I mean, Rajdeep,
48:48this is an emotional issue
48:50for every Bangalore.
48:51Then if it is emotional,
48:52you should make all the arrangements.
48:54If it is so emotional, Rizwan,
48:55I'm sorry to...
48:57If it is so emotional,
48:59then you should make the adequate arrangements.
49:01No, no.
49:02And I mean, I agree.
49:03I mean, let the inquiry come down.
49:05It was just for the sake of making political mileage of...
49:06One minute.
49:07Let it is.
49:08I mean, if BJP talks about political mileage,
49:11you are not leaving Operation Sindhur.
49:13You are taking political mileage for nation security.
49:16You are taking political mileage
49:18when people are killed in Paragat.
49:19Please, don't talk about political mileage with us.
49:21You have no moral right to talk about political mileage.
49:24Please, BJP has no moral right to talk on political mileage
49:28because the biggest political mileage...
49:30Listen, use without the noise.
49:34I do not allow cross-talk.
49:36Let him finish.
49:37I'll give you Bharat a final word.
49:40See, let us not talk about political mileage, Bharat,
49:43because we know how BJP takes political mileage.
49:46Even Operation Sindhur is being politically taken mileage by your party.
49:50So, it's okay.
49:51I mean, we are not...
49:52We don't want to make it political.
49:55Today, the whole Bangalore, the whole country is in pain.
49:58We are part of this pain.
50:02And we know that this tragedy could have been averted.
50:06Who has been responsible?
50:08You made your point.
50:09Bharat, I'll give you 30 seconds to respond.
50:11Will the BJP realize that this is a tragedy at the end of the day
50:14and also not play politics over dead bodies?
50:18See, this is a tragedy at the end of the day, as you said.
50:21We are not trying to make politics out of it.
50:24But it is a clear-cut indication.
50:26Everything is pointing towards them trying to take political mileage.
50:29And it's a very sad thing.
50:31We don't want anyone to resign or we don't want any heads to roll.
50:35We want answers.
50:36Okay.
50:36Why that another program was done?
50:38As you said, it was a RCB's victory.
50:40It was not Indian team's victory.
50:43When such a program was done for the World Cup,
50:45four or five days' time was given for the arrangement.
50:48What is the hurry?
50:49Okay, you made that point earlier.
50:51You made that point.
50:52You want answers.
50:53Before heads roll, first we need answers.
50:55First, we need the facts to come out.
50:57We need a proper, transparent, fact-finding inquiry, time-bound.
51:02And therefore, responsibility to be fixed and protocols to be put in place.
51:08And emotions alone cannot be a justification for what's gone wrong.
51:13There are people who will have to make some tough answer, give some tough answers.
51:17I appreciate both Rizwan Arshad, Bharat Shetty, two young politicians from Karnataka joining me.
51:23Meanwhile, breaking news at this moment, an official statement, as you've been seeing,
51:27has been flashing on your screen, has come from Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
51:31This is what Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the winners of the 2025 IPL, are saying.
51:36We are deeply anguished by the unfortunate incidents that have come to light
51:40through media reports regarding public gatherings all over Bengaluru
51:43in anticipation of the team's arrival this afternoon.
51:46The safety and well-being of everyone is of utmost importance to us.
51:50RCB mourns the tragic loss of lives and extends our heartfelt condolences to the affected families.
51:56Immediately upon being made aware of the situation,
51:59we promptly amended our program and followed the guidance and advice of the local administration.
52:04We urge all our supporters to please stay safe.
52:08Okay, let me then leave you with my take tonight.
52:15The Bengaluru stampede has once again exposed how crowd frenzy can rapidly descend
52:21into a human tragedy in this country.
52:24What makes this particular tragedy even worse is how and why did the celebrations continue
52:29even as reports of death were streaming in.
52:32The local administration and the event organizations have much to answer.
52:37Were they really prepared to handle this crowd surge?
52:40And if they were not, what mattered more?
52:43A public spectacle with netas associating themselves with cricketers or crowd safety?
52:50There is a Congress government in Karnataka,
52:52so the BJP is calling for political resignations and accountability.
52:56A few months ago, during the Kumbh Mela,
52:59it was a BJP government in Uttar Pradesh that was in the dock.
53:02This is not a time for the usual whataboutry,
53:06but to ensure that those responsible for gross negligence are taken to task.
53:12Equally importantly, there is a need for genuine introspection.
53:16Does human life in India come so cheap that we simply move from one stampede to another,
53:22one headline to another with little lessons learned?
53:25RCB won the IPL title after 18 years,
53:29but the deaths of so many fans will shadow their great triumph.
53:34The cricket team did Bengaluru proud.
53:37Those organizing the celebrations in a hurry clearly failed the city.
53:42Yes, we need more orderly fan celebrations,
53:45but for God's sake, we also need better crowd control and preparation.
53:50Sadly, Bengaluru, a city that sees itself as a 21st century IT capital,
53:58failed miserably on both counts.
54:01Let me not say more.
54:03Thanks for watching.
54:04My prayers and thoughts today with the families of the victims.
54:09Think about them.
54:10Stay well.
54:11Stay safe.
54:12Good night.
54:13Shubhra Tri.
54:14Jai Hind.
54:15Namaskar.
54:15Chin yeah.
54:23Long time.
54:24Listen.
54:25Look.
54:27Holy.
54:29Curly.
54:31You.
54:31Okay.
54:32Listen.
54:40Wait.
54:41Listen.
54:42You.