Top KSCA officials resign following tragic stampede at Chinnaswamy Stadium

The celebrations in Bengaluru after Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)’s triumph in IPL 2025 ended up being a disaster, as the parade and felicitation led to a stampede that resulted in at least 11 innocent lives lost, and many more facing severe injuries surrounding the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. The events have now resulted in the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) secretary and treasurer resigning from their duties.

Both A Shankar, the secretary and Treasurer ES Jairam had resigned from the post through a joint statement, made through a letter to KSCA president Raghuram Bhat. According to the statement, both Shankar and Jairam claimed that though the role of the organisation was limited, they have chosen to resign from their post owing to the moral responsibility for what took place over the last couple of days.

“This is to inform that due to the unforeseen and unfortunate events that have unfolded in the last two days and though our role was very limited, but owing moral responsibility, we wish to state that last night we have tendered our resignation to our respective posts as the Secretary and Treasurer of the Karnataka State Cricket Association, by way of a letter dated 06.06.2025 to the President of Karnataka State Cricket Association,” the letter from association officials dated Saturday, June 7, read.

Details of the ongoing case

The Karnataka High Court had taken suo motu cognisance of the incident on Thursday after receiving an initial briefing from Advocate General Shashikiran Shetty. The court directed the state to submit a status report by June 10, which is the next date of the hearing. A single-judge bench of Justice S R Krishna Kumar granted interim protection from arrest to senior KSCA officials, contingent on their cooperation with the police investigation.

On June 6, Friday the Bengaluru had arrested four people which also include RCB marketing head Nikhil Sosale, while they were attempting to catch a flight from Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport. Apart from Sosale, the other three people who were arrested were representatives of DNA Entertainment Private Limited, the organisers of RCB's victory celebration event as well. The accused names were Sunil Matthew, Sumanth, and Kiran Kumar. Further details in the matter are currently awaited, as the next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.