Karnataka drops charges against three police officers in Bengaluru stampede case
The incident took place at the Chinnaswamy stadium in June 2025, leaving 11 dead and more than 50 injured.
The Karnataka government on Tuesday formally closed disciplinary proceedings against three Indian Police Service officers in the 2025 Bengaluru stampede case that killed 11 persons, The Indian Express reported.
The government cleared the officers of all the charges.
The stampede had occurred at Gate Number 3 of the Chinnaswamy stadium on June 4, 2025. More than 50 were injured. Fans had gathered at the stadium to celebrate the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s victory in the Indian Premier League.
The government dropped departmental inquiries against former Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda, former Additional Commissioner of Police Vikash Kumar Vikash and former Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Shekhar H Tekkannavar.
It said that the decision was taken after reviewing officers’ written defence and the recommendations of the administrative department, the newspaper reported.
A day after the stampede, the government had at the time suspended five officers including Dayananda, Vikash and Tekkannavar for being “irresponsible and negligent”. The two others were Assistant Commissioner of Police C Balakrishna and Cubbon Park Inspector AK Girish.
The suspensions of all the officers, except Vikash, had been revoked on July 28, 2025.
Vikash had approached the Central Administrative Tribunal to challenge his suspension. The tribunal ruled in his favour, set aside the suspension and asked the government to extend the same relief to him as his colleagues. The state subsequently revoked his suspension.
By September 8, 2025, all five police officers had submitted detailed written responses to the home department, denying the allegations of negligence and seeking to be cleared of all charges, The Indian Express reported.
Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.