Life has moved on for everyone, but us, say families of Royal Challengers Bengaluru stampede victims
“Over a year after the deaths, nobody has been held culpable for the tragedy. Neither has a chargesheet been filed, nor have the officers whom
“Over a year after the deaths, nobody has been held culpable for the tragedy. Neither has a chargesheet been filed, nor have the officers whom the government only suspended been held accountable. Indian Premier League matches were held at the same stadium this year. Life has moved on for everyone, but us,” said Sridhar K.T., brother of Shravan K.T., a second-year dental student who was among the 11 victims of the stampede at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s victory celebrations on June 4, 2025. “We are small people to fight such big forces.
We have lost all hope that we will get any justice,” he lamented. Over a year after the stampede, the department enquiry against three senior IPS officers was closed last week with them being exonerated. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is awaiting approval from the High Court of Karnataka to file the chargesheet in a case against Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd., which owns the RCB team, the event manager, DNA Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA). The High Court, hearing petitions challenging the FIR against the two firms and KSCA, on July 8, 2025 passed an interim order directing the CID not to file final investigation report/chargesheet without its prior permission.
The CID filed a copy of the chargesheet against RCSPL, DNA Entertainment, and KSCA on March 17, 2026, seeking permission to file the same in the jurisdictional trial court. It is still awaiting a nod from the High Court, as the petition challenging the FIR is still pending. Sources said the chargesheet filed in the High Court is only the first one and the CID has kept options open to file supplementary chargesheets as well. The role of officers and other functionaries is still under probe. Lakshman D.H., an industrialist who lost his son Bhumik, a 19-year-old engineering student, said they had no hope of any justice as the entire event was organised by the government.
“I tried seeking a CBI investigation, but failed. How can we expect any justice from the government that organised the event?,” he said. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R. Ashok recently said if elected, their government would hand over the probe to the CBI.
The BriefWire