The Karnataka Police officers acted like “servants” of the Indian Premier League team Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the state government told the High Court on Thursday in the case linked to the stampede outside Chinnaswamy Stadium, Live Law reported.

The stampede had taken place at Gate Number 3 of the stadium on June 4, where fans had gathered to celebrate the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s victory in the Indian Premier League. Eleven persons were killed and more than 50 were injured.

On Thursday, the Karnataka government’s counsel told the court that the police officers had started making arrangements for the victory celebrations without ascertaining who had permitted the event.

The government claimed that the cricket team had submitted an application to the police proposing a victory celebration even before the final cricket match had begun, Live Law reported.

The cricketing team’s potential first victory in the league was expected to be emotionally charged, the state’s counsel said, adding that the police failed to alert the public or adequately make arrangements.

When the court asked who was responsible for arrangements inside the stadium, the state’s counsel responded: “State police officials.”

The government also defended the suspension of Additional Commissioner of Police Vikash Kumar Vikash, accusing the officer of failing to do his duty and causing “public embarrassment”, the Hindustan Times reported.

“It was necessary to do so [suspending Vikash] to find out who was responsible for the incident,” the state argued.

The case will continue to be heard on Friday.

On June 5, the state government suspended Vikash and four others, accusing them of dereliction of duty. Vikash had challenged the suspension before the Central Administrative Tribunal, which said that the officer was suspended without sufficient grounds.

The tribunal directed the state government to reinstate Vikash immediately, prompting the state to approach the High Court.

Status report presented to HC

The state government has submitted its status report on the matter to the High Court, PTI reported on Thursday, quoting unidentified persons.

The report has highlighted that the organisers of the event never sought formal police permission as per the law and instead only informed the police about a potential gathering, according to the news agency.

It has also alleged that key details, such as “the number of participants, assembly point, timing, names and contact details of people in charge of organising the event, and plans for traffic and crowd control, were entirely missing”, PTI reported.

On July 14, the court had rejected the Karnataka government’s request to retain the report in a sealed cover, The News Minute reported.