Karnataka cricket officials step down over RCB stampede that killed 11

A Shankar and E S Jairam have resigned from their respective posts as secretary and treasurer of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), taking moral responsibility for the stampede that led to the death of 11 people during RCB's IPL trophy celebrations.

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In a joint statement, Shankar and Jairam said they had submitted their resignations on Thursday night to the KSCA president.

“...due to the unforeseen and unfortunate events that have unfolded in the last two days, and though our role was very limited, we wish to state that we have tendered our resignation to our respective posts as the Secretary and Treasurer of the Karnataka State Cricket Association,” the statement read.

KSCA president Raghuram Bhat, secretary Shankar and treasurer Jayaram had submitted in the Karnataka High Court that the gate management and crowd management were not the responsibility of the association and they had sought permission to hold RCB IPL celebrations at Vidhan Soudha.

While the felicitation at the Vidhan Soudha passed off without any major glitch, chaos erupted outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium where lakhs converged following RCB's social media invitation, which was eventually deleted.

A planned victory parade had to be cancelled but the function inside the stadium proceeded despite the tragedy that unfolded outside.