In a bizarre incident, two employees of a private digital services firm entered the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on April 24 and disabled around 240 CCTV cameras, damaging NVR units and optical fiber connections. The disruption affected surveillance across entry gates, concourses, and other critical areas.
Incident Details
The accused, identified as Manjunath (37) and Abdul Kalam (19), are employees of IVS Digital Solutions. They reportedly entered the stadium around 11:30 am using a deactivated access card and gained unauthorized entry into the CCTV control room. They deliberately damaged NVR systems and optical fiber connections, including links from the server room to junction boxes near the parking area, crippling the entire surveillance network between 11:30 am and 12:30 pm.
The disruption was noticed soon after, and services were restored within 15 minutes. A high-voltage IPL match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans took place at the stadium on the same day.
Legal Action
A complaint was filed by Aditya Bhat, an employee of Staqu Technologies Pvt. Ltd., based in Gurugram, Haryana. The complainant termed the act as deliberate vandalism and sought immediate legal action. Cubbon Park police registered a case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 324 (mischief).
During interrogation, the accused confessed that they had a payment issue with their employer and hence cut the wires. RCB had given the contract to Staqu Technologies, which sub-leased maintenance work to IVS Digital Solutions. The duo had valid access cards and entered the stadium using them.
Police Statement
A senior officer said, “The dispute between the two companies is not our concern, but why the wires were disconnected matters. The services were restored within 15 minutes. There was no major breach during the match.” Since the case is a bailable offense, the accused have been served notices and will appear before the investigating officer for questioning.
Additionally, police have booked seven cases against those selling tickets in black and fake tickets.
