Three days after the deadly stampede near Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium that killed 11 people during a Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) felicitation event, a startling revelation has emerged: police had already warned of major security and crowd control risks before the tragedy unfolded.
An official letter dated June 4 — the same day as the incident — from Deputy Commissioner of Police (Legislature Security) M.N. Karibasavana Gowda to senior state government officials, including the Secretary of the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, outlined several red flags. Gowda explicitly highlighted that a massive crowd was expected around the Vidhana Soudha area due to RCB’s wide fan base, and expressed concern over the inadequate number of security personnel available to manage it.
The letter issued urgent recommendations:
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Suspension of all public entry passes (both online and offline) for June 4 to restrict crowd size.
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Ban on government staff bringing family members to the Secretariat that day.
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Declaration of a half-day holiday to reduce overall foot traffic near Vidhana Soudha.
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Concerns over Vidhana Soudha’s infrastructure, noting that the heritage structure lacked comprehensive CCTV surveillance despite prior requests.
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Call for stage inspections by the Public Works Department for both structural and electrical safety.
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Request for anti-sabotage and anti-drone measures, with specific instructions for a sweep at least two hours before the event.
The DCP also pushed for urgent deployment of additional police personnel from outside the city, citing insufficient manpower within the Vidhana Soudha Security Division. He emphasized that coordination with law and traffic police teams would be challenging given the short notice but necessary to prevent chaos.
Despite the gravity of these concerns, the event went ahead — and turned tragic. The document reveals that law enforcement had foreseen potential risks and recommended preventive actions, but those warnings appear to have gone unheeded or been inadequately acted upon.
The stampede has since drawn massive public outrage, and the newly surfaced letter is likely to intensify scrutiny over event planning failures and official accountability.
