Bengaluru: An 18-year-old son of a pani puri vendor, a Class 9 student who was a big fan of Virat Kohli, an engineer who was in Bengaluru to meet a woman to discuss marriage - all 11 victims in the deadly stampede in Bengaluru are under 30. They were among the sea of supporters who had converged at the Chinnaswamy Stadium to watch their favourite RCB stars at the grand celebration after their home team won its maiden IPL championship after 18 years. "I am ready to give Rs 50 lakh…Rs 1 crore. Will they get my son back?" said Devaraj, the pani puri vendor, reacting to the government compensation of Rs 10 lakh.
The grand celebration, Times Now has learnt, was organised at short notice despite the police advising that he event be postponed by a week. "RCB chairman is the main guy responsible for the fiasco. Home Minister (G Parameshwara) also agreed with our assessment. He was overruled. There was no time to plan," a police source said.
They claimed that the police officials "stretched" till late at night for the grand celebration. "Whole night till 4, every cop was busy. How can you prepare something in the afternoon? For such a big event, we carry out a mock assessment. However, we did not get time to do it this time. Had we had a day or two, we would have prevented it," the police source said.
The result: Over 2 lakh fans turned up at Chinnaswamy Stadium, which has a seating capacity of around 30,000 to 40,000 people, leading to a shocking turn of events that left 11 dead and over 50 injured.
Among the deceased, Akshata Pai, a 26-year-old chartered accountant who had taken a day's leave from work to witness the victory parade.
Fourteen-year-old Divyanshi was the other casualty. Passionate about cricket and a big fan of Virat Kohli, she wanted to see her idol up close. Her wish cost her her life.
Prajwal G, 22, went against his mother's will. Hours later, his mother received a call informing her about his death.
Devaraj NT, a pani puri vendor in Bengaluru, learnt about the tragic news while watching TV in his home in Yelahanka New Town. He immediately dialled his son, Manoj Kumar, 20, a BBA student at Presidency College. "Someone else picked up the phone. I sensed something amiss,” Devaraj told The Indian Express.
Like Devaraj and Prajwal's mother, many parents like RB Chandru may have to live with the memory of their children. RB Chandru lost his son Poorna Chandra, who was in Bengaluru to meet a woman to discuss marriage.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the families of those dead. He also emphasised that the government is prioritising relief efforts and will conduct a thorough investigation into the causes of the tragedy. Four officials of RCB and event management firm DNA Entertainment Private Limited have been taken into custody in connection with the stampede incident, police sources said on Friday.
