Bengaluru: The Bengaluru police arrested four persons, including Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) marketing head at Diageo India Nikhil Sosale, in connection with a stampede outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4 that killed 11 persons.
Sosale was detained at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, at around 6.30am. while reportedly traveling to Mumbai. He handles all promotional activities for RCB, serving as the primary link between the players and the franchise, and also oversees the team’s social media accounts.
He had allegedly announced a victory parade from Vidhana Soudha to Chinnaswamy Stadium via RCB‘s official handle without obtaining police permission.
The other arrested are staff members of DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt Ltd, the event organisers. They have been identified as Vice President, Business Affairs, Sunil Mathew, who handles IPL events for DNA, Senior Event Manager Kiran and Sumanth.
The arrests were made during an overnight operation carried out by the Central Crime Branch under the leadership of Deputy Commissioner of Police Akshay. They are likely to be handed over to the Crime Investigation Department on Friday, NDTV reported, quoting police.
This came hours after Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah’s orders to arrest key figures from RCB, DNA Entertainment, and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) after an FIR was filed against them for charges including culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Additionally, Siddaramaiah has suspended Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda, Additional Commissioner Vikash Kumar Vikash, DCP (Central) Shekhar HT, ACP C Balakrishna, and Cubbon Park Police Inspector Girish AK for lapses that led to the tragedy.
Meanwhile, senior IPS officer Seemant Kumar Singh has taken charge as the new Commissioner of Bengaluru City Police.
