BENGALURU: A top Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) official and three staffers from DNA Entertainment were arrested by Bengaluru Police on Friday in connection with the tragic stampede outside Chinnaswamy Stadium that left 11 dead and 75 injured.
The arrested include Nikhil Sosale, Head of Business Partnerships at RCB and Sports Marketing at Diageo India; Sunil Mathew, Director and VP (Business Affairs) at DNA Entertainment Networks; and two other DNA staffers, Sumanth and Nikhil Kumar. All four were detained after midnight and interrogated for hours before being formally arrested, police sources told TOI.
The arrests came just hours after Seemant Kumar Singh took charge as Bengaluru’s new police commissioner, replacing B Dayananda, who was among five senior police officials suspended following the incident. Three of the suspended officers are IPS cadre.
The stampede occurred on Wednesday afternoon, just ahead of RCB’s planned victory parade celebrating their maiden IPL title. Thousands of fans had gathered near the stadium, overwhelming the arrangements and triggering chaos.
The Cubbon Park Police registered a suo motu FIR naming RCB as the first accused, DNA Entertainment Networks as the second, and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) administrative committee as the third. Charges include culpable homicide not amounting to murder, voluntarily causing hurt, and endangering life, under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
A second FIR was filed based on a complaint by Rolongumes, a 25-year-old from West Bengaluru who was injured in the incident.
According to police, the organisers pushed ahead with the parade despite repeated concerns from law enforcement about inadequate crowd control measures. “Prima facie, it appears there was gross negligence and disregard for safety by the organisers, which directly contributed to the tragedy,” said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, citing initial findings and testimonies from senior police officers and ministers.
In response to the mounting outrage, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has been tasked with leading the probe. The Karnataka High Court has also taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and issued a notice to the state government, seeking a detailed report on the sequence of events, crowd management plans, and coordination failures.
Criticism continues to mount over how the event was handled, with opposition leaders and grieving families questioning the lack of preparation and the misjudgment of fan turnout. Allegations are also emerging that senior officials were pressured to proceed with the event despite warnings, a claim central to the ongoing investigations.
