People jostling, fighting for air, and making desperate attempts to save themselves from a swelling crowd—a video from the stampede that unfolded outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru during celebrations to mark the RCB lifting the IPL trophy showed the chaos that ensued on Wednesday, which resulted in 11 deaths. The first leg of the celebrations involved Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah felicitating the team on the steps of the Vidhan Soudha. However, a huge crowd was also building up outside the stadium which seems to have escaped the attention of the authorities. Free passes, overcrowding and limited seats at the Chinnaswamy Stadium are said to be some of the major reasons that led to the stampede in which 11 were killed and over 45 injured. Addressing the media, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said: “The crowd turnout exceeded all expectations. Over one lakh people gathered in front of Vidhana Soudha, but no untoward incident occurred at that venue. However, the tragedy occurred at Chinnaswamy Stadium. No one anticipated this—neither the cricket association nor the government. The stadium has a seating capacity of 35,000, but an estimated two to three lakh people turned up. We did not expect such a massive turnout; we had only anticipated a crowd equal to the stadium’s capacity.” The government’s assertion that the celebrations were not pre-planned also fell flat on Thursday as CNN-News18 accessed communication between the government and the Karnataka State Cricket Association which revealed that Bengaluru Police were not in favour of the felicitation ceremony for RCB at the Vidhana Soudha. On June 3, KSCA wrote to DPAR, seeking permission to hold a felicitation event on the grand steps of the Vidhan Soudha if RCB wins the IPL. DPAR then wrote to the police, seeking their opinion on the proposal. However, sources in the police department said the cops were not in favour of allowing the Vidhana Soudha event. According to police sources, Bengaluru police have become a fait accompli in the situation. The police are analysing tweets from the RCB franchise and found that information regarding the victory procession, an announcement about free passes, and the build-up to the event ultimately led to the crowd surge. Sandeep Prathamesh, a witness to the tragedy, said: “People were rushing in droves towards the stadium, and many were pushing towards the gates. The entry gates are small. Only those with passes or tickets were allowed inside, but many had gathered simply to be part of the celebrations, without tickets.”