Amid the celebration and fervour of return of Team India the World Champions, the Mumbai police had to deploy around 5,000 personnel at Marine Drive and Wankhede stadium as a crowd of around 300,000 descended to witness the Indian cricket team's victory parade after winning the T20 World Cup.

"We had done elaborate planning and deployed 5,000 personnel, including around 300 police officers," said Satyanarayan Chaudhary, Joint Commissioner of Police, Law and Order, Greater Mumbai.

Another senior officer said the police force was deployed at strategic spots, which helped control and regulate the crowd flow at both Marine Drive and Wankhede. The team's open bus had a Quick Response Team escorting it, while there were also other police personnel around the bus. On the Marine Drive promenade, several police officers were on the lookout for any anti-social elements.

While the bus parade began post 7:30 pm, fans had started gathering at Marine Drive from as early as 3 pm. "People came from all over the city. Officegoers who left their workplaces early, college students and families all joined the parade wearing Team India jerseys. Police were asked to make sure anti-social elements and thieves don't steal at the venue, but also ensure there is no stampede. It was a happy time and we didn't want to restrict people," said a police officer from Marine Drive police station.

Despite the police's arrangements, there was a stampede-like situation at several places along the route of the victory parade. At some spots, the police had to resort to minor lathi charges as there was no place to move. About dozen children went missing in the crowd but were reunited with their parents. Fourteen people were admitted to hospital with minor injuries or breathing problems due to the crowd. They were all discharged on Thursday itself.