Two men were booked on Saturday for allegedly disrupting more than 240 security cameras at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium ahead of an Indian Premier League match on April 24, police said on Monday.
The accused have been identified as Manjunath E (37) from Chitradurga district and Abrar (19) from Uttar Pradesh, working for a subcontractor associated with IVS Digital Solutions, which handled digital infrastructure elements for the stadium.
Investigators said initial investigations found damage to critical systems, including network video recorders and fiber optic links, creating a temporary surveillance gap across entry gates, clusters, corporate areas and surrounding areas.
The outage occurred before a match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans, which was one of the busiest matches at the stadium.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Division), Akshay M Hakai, the glitch was remedied within about an hour.
A case has been registered at Cubbon Park police station. Representative of Staqu Technologies Pvt. Ltd – a Gurugram-based company responsible for AI-based surveillance during match days – filed the complaint, which cited video evidence that allegedly shows the suspects moving through sensitive areas, including server rooms and call centers near the parking area.
Once inside, the pair interfered with recording systems and cut off fiber connections, rendering large parts of the surveillance network inoperable.
Officials said they discovered the defect during a routine inspection.
The First Information Report states that the accused “deliberately abused and disabled the NVR (Network Video Recorder) and fiber connections, thereby disabling the surveillance system. In addition, they allegedly destroyed all initial setup work related to the installation. They also gained unauthorized access to restricted areas such as the server room and were seen moving suspiciously near critical areas.”
He added: “Since this incident occurred on the day of the match, it severely compromised the security of the stadium and prevented the complainant from providing the requested data or footage to the relevant authorities or agencies.”
Police said preliminary findings point to a possible motive related to pending payments. The DPP added: “These two employees had a personal grudge against the company. They may not have received their salaries, so they committed the act. Both accused have been identified and further action will be taken soon.”
