Bengaluru stampede: A police complaint was lodged against cricketer Virat Kohli on Friday in connection with a stampede outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium that claimed 11 lives and left 56 people injured in Bengaluru.
According to an ANI report, social activist HM Venkatesh submitted the complaint at the Cubbon Park station in the city. The complaint would be considered under an already registered case and examined during the course of the ongoing investigation of the stampede incident, the report said.
Eleven people lost their lives and 56 others were injured in the tragic stampede outside Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 3, which occurred after a massive crowd gathered to welcome the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team following their Indian Premier League (IPL) victory — the team’s first in 18 years.
What the complaint says
In the complaint, Venkatesh has accused Kohli of promoting what he described as “gambling through IPL”, alleging it incited the massive crowd that led to the tragedy.
Venkatesh further alleged that the Indian Premier League (IPL) is “not a sport but a gambling that has contaminated the game of cricket.”
“Virat Kohli of the Bangalore RCB team is the most prominent among those who participated in such gambling and incited people to gather in a specific place and caused this tragedy. Therefore, we request you to please make Virat Kohli and his team members accused in the FIR of this tragedy and take action,” Venkatesh stated in his complaint.
Four in custody; interim relief for KSCA officials
A Bengaluru sessions court on Friday remanded four individuals to 14 days of judicial custody in connection with the stampede. Marketing and Revenue Head of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) official Nikhil Sosale, one of the four remanded, approached the Karnataka High Court to challenge his arrest, a Bar and Bench report said on Friday.
According to the report, Sosale argued that his arrest was unlawful, arbitrary, and infringed upon his fundamental rights. He has sought orders from the court declaring his arrest as illegal and for releasing him from custody.
Earlier in the day, the Karnataka High Court granted interim relief to the office bearers of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), who had approached the court seeking the quashing of the FIR registered against them in connection with the stampede.
In an interim order, the court directed the state police not to take any coercive action against them until further orders.
The High Court adjourned the case to June 9.
(With inputs from agencies)
