Four people have been arrested in connection with the stampede outside Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, which occurred during Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team’s first-ever IPL victory celebrations and killed 11 people earlier this week.
According to the police, Nikhil Sosale, a top marketing official of the RCB, was among those arrested. He was on his way to Mumbai when he was arrested from Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, at around 6.30am.
Mr Sosale handles all promotional activities of the RCB and is the main link between the players and the franchise. He also handles the team’s social media handles.
The remaining arrested people are members of event management company DNA Entertainment Private Limited – Sunil Mathew (Vice President, handles IPL events for DNA), Kiran and Sumanth.
The developments came hours after the registration of a First Information Report (FIR), under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder. On Thursday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ordered the arrest of representatives of the RCB team, DNA Entertainment Private Limited, and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA).
Police said the arrests were made during an overnight operation carried out by the Central Crime Branch under the leadership of Deputy Commissioner of Police Akshay. The accused are likely to be handed over to the Crime Investigation Department today.
Two officials of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) – secretary Shankar and treasurer Jayram – are absconding and efforts are on to trace them. Police said they were not found in their houses.
The stampede occurred on Wednesday evening outside the stadium, where a large number of people thronged to participate in the RCB’s victory celebrations. More than 60 people were injured in the incident.
On Thursday, Siddaramaiah suspended Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayananda and several other senior police officials in connection with the incident.
According to an official notification, senior IPS officer Seemanth Kumar Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Bengaluru Metropolitan Task Force, was “transferred with immediate effect and posted until further orders” as Additional Director General of Police and Bengaluru police commissioner.
The state government’s action came amidst an all-out attack by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, which has demanded the resignations of Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar. The ruling Congress has accused the BJP of playing “dirty politics”.
According to the FIR, the RCB franchise announced the programme on social media inviting people for the event despite having no permission from the competent authority.
Earlier, Mr Shivakumar turned emotional while talking about the tragedy and said that Bengaluru has lost its image due to the incident.
The families of the victims have blamed the authorities for the stampede.
