Investigations of the deaths of 11 Royal Challengers Bengaluru fans in stampedes at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on June 4 during a celebration of RCB’s first IPL crown in 18 years have revealed that the first death was recorded at 3.45 pm.
The investigations–based on hospital records and movement of bodies to two mortuaries for postmortems–have also revealed that 10 more deaths were recorded at three hospitals in central Bengaluru, from 4.15 pm to 5.15 pm on June 4, even as the celebration was on at two separate events held between 4 pm and 6 pm.
The timing of the recording of the deaths of RCB fans at hospitals has become a subject of controversy in Karnataka on account of the IPL victory celebrations at the Vidhana Soudha, the government headquarters, and the Chinnaswamy stadium continuing despite the fan deaths.
A felicitation for the IPL-winning RCB team was conducted from 4 pm to 5 pm on the steps of the Vidhana Soudha, with Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and several members of the Congress cabinet in attendance.
A celebration was also held between 5 pm and 6 pm at the Chinnaswamy cricket stadium, where RCB fans had been gathering in thousands from 1 pm to gain entry to what was advertised by the team as a free event.
The stampede occurred around the 21 gates surrounding the stadium as fans tried to force their way in while security personnel at the stadium tried to keep the gates closed. No deaths were reported in the vicinity of the venue at the Vidhana Soudha, held 1 km away from the stadium.
Advocate-General K M Shashi Kiran Shetty told the Karnataka High Court last week–during the hearing of a suo motu petition–that “four deaths were recorded of fans from Gate 7, one from Gate 1, two from Gate 2 and four from Gates 17 to 21”.
The state government has argued that the gathering of nearly three lakh RCB fans–at the prompting of messages posted on social media by the team for its fan base of over three crores, to gather to celebrate the June 3 IPL victory without any police clearances for the event–had overwhelmed the police and security personnel outside the stadium, which only has a capacity of 33,000.
The Karnataka government is due to file a report in a sealed cover on the findings on the stampede deaths on Thursday before the high court.
The recording of the 11 deaths
Information gathered from multiple sources, on the recording of the stampede deaths by three hospitals and the subsequent movement to mortuaries, reveals that the first death was recorded at 3.45 pm, at Vydehi Superspeciality Hospital, of Prajwal G, 22, an engineering graduate and an employee at a private firm.
The second death was recorded at 4.15 pm, at Bowring Hospital, of Divyanshi B S, 14, a Class 9 student; the third was recorded at 4.27 pm, at Bowring Hospital, of Manoj Kumar N D, 19, a college student; the fourth was recorded at 4.34 pm, at Vydehi Hospital, of Poornachandra C, 20, a civil engineer; the fifth at 4.40 pm, at Bowring Hospital, of Kamakshi Devi S, 29, an Amazon employee.
The next five deaths were recorded in the 30 minutes from 4.45 pm to 5.15 pm–with the death of Bhumik L, a 19-year-old student, recorded at Vydehi Hospital at 4.45 pm; of Chinmayi Shetty, also a 19-year-old student, recorded at Manipal (Vikram) Hospital around 5 pm; of Sahana Rajesh, 23, a Bosch employee, recorded at Vydehi Hospital at 5.07 pm; of Shivalingu C, 17, a student, recorded at Bowring Hospital, also at 5.07 pm; of Shravan K T, 20, a student, recorded at Bowring Hospital at 5.10 pm; and Akshata Pai, 26, a chartered accountant at Bowring Hospital at 5.15 pm.
The postmortems of five victims were conducted at Victoria Hospital and six postmortems were conducted at Bowring Hospital. The first postmortem took place at 8 pm at Bowring Hospital and the last at 11.40 pm at Victoria Hospital. A postmortem can take place only after a near relative identifies the body.
Although the first death declared in the stampede was that of Prajwal G, 22, at Vydehi Hospital at 3.45 pm, his postmortem was conducted only at 11.40 pm as his body was identified late by his family, before it was moved to Victoria Hospital for the procedure.
“The last postmortem at Bowring Hospital was conducted at 11.20 pm because the parents of the victim (Kamakshi Devi) had to come from Salem for the identification,” a source said.
‘Siddaramiah informed of the first death late’
The Opposition parties in Karnataka have accused the Congress government of going on with the victory felicitation and celebrations, at the Vidhana Soudha and the Chinnaswamy stadium, respectively, on the evening of June 4 despite the deaths of fans being registered at hospitals ahead of the first event and through the course of the first and second events.
Sources in the government said that one of the primary reasons Siddaramaiah decided on June 5 to suspend five police officers, including the then Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayananda, was the fact that the news of the deaths outside the stadium was not brought to his notice.
“If the news of the first death had been communicated to the CM, the programme at the Vidhana Soudha and the stadium could have been cancelled, leading to fewer deaths. The CM was livid that he was not informed of the stampede incidents,” a government source said.
The “situation was not discussed with the higher-ups for taking necessary guidance and advice in the matter. As a result, the situation went out of control and brought a lot of misery, loss of precious life and embarrassment to the government,” says the suspension orders for the police officers.
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“Although the injured were admitted to the hospital at 3.50 pm, I received information at 5.45 pm that a stampede had occurred near the stadium and people had died. The stampede incident should not have happened. It is very saddening,” Siddaramaiah said last week.
“The first death due to the stampede occurred at 3.10 pm. But D K Shivakumar was seen kissing the cup at the stadium. Meanwhile, CM Siddaramaiah took his grandson to Janardhan Hotel to eat masala dosa and halwa,” Union minister H D Kumaraswamy said last week.
Political row
Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka claimed that “the police had informed them of the first death by noon”. “Eight children had already died when the event began, yet the programme continued, showing that these leaders have hearts of stone,” the BJP MLA alleged.
D K Shivakumar, who participated in the events at the Vidhana Soudha and the Chinnaswamy stadium, said that he had directed the ending of the stadium felicitation as soon as he learned of the stampede deaths.
“The police commissioner told the organisers to cut the programme down to 10 minutes. We also spoke to the RCB management to cut the programme short. My media friends informed me about the stampede. The police commissioner too spoke to me,” the deputy chief minister said.
