Virat Kohli's video, removed by RCB, resurfaces after Karnataka government blames franchise for stampede

Virat Kohli at RCB IPL 2025 victory celebration at M Chinnaswamy Stadium (AFP Photo)

In a report filed with the High Court on Thursday, the Karnataka government accused the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) of being responsible for the June 4 stampede outside Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium, which left 11 people dead and more than 50 injured.

According to the investigation, the rush was caused by the franchise's lapses and poor management. Additionally, it noted that the Karnataka State Cricket Association, RCB, and DNA Networks did not obtain any prior police approval before planning the event.

Despite police denial, RCB openly promoted the event, according to a report that was first filed on June 12 and made public by the court on July 8. They even advertised the event using a footage of Virat Kohli.

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At 8:55 AM on June 4, RCB announced a victory parade from Vidhana Soudha to Chinnaswamy Stadium and released Kohli's video message to Bengaluru supporters, urging followers to participate in the celebrations. As stated in the description, the squad "intends to celebrate this victory with the people of Bengaluru and RCB fans on 04.06.2025 after the team returns to Bengaluru." The video was posted on their official X account.

The Kohli video was later removed by RCB, but it reappeared on Thursday following the release of the Karnataka Government's report.

This video has now been deleted by RCB X handle and if you'll watch it you'll know exactly why.

So much of pushing and lathi charge visible even in the official video. pic.twitter.com/3Bi0wFHBfU

— Fantasy Cricket Pro (Viren Hemrajani) (@FantasycricPro) June 4, 2025

Another post indicated the parade's timing and offered a limited number of complimentary passes for the event at 3:14. "This post mentioned, for the first and only time, that free passes (limited entry) were available on shop.royalchallengers.com, and until this point, there had been no information regarding the disbursement of passes, implying that the event was open to all based on RCB's prior posts," the report noted.

On June 4, a crowd of around 3 lakh people gathered outside the stadium to see RCB celebrate winning their first IPL title, resulting in a stampede.

In response to the incident, the Karnataka government established a one-man committee headed by a retired High Court judge to investigate it and suspended senior police officers at the Cubbon Park Police Station on June 5.