NEW DELHI: A city court on Friday remanded four individuals, including Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Head of Marketing and Revenue Nikhil Sosale, to 14-day judicial custody in connection with the tragic stampede outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium that claimed 11 lives.The additional chief metropolitan magistrate ordered Sosale, along with DNA Entertainment Private Limited executives Sunil Mathew, Sumanth, and Kiran Kumar, to be held in custody following their arrest earlier in the day in a joint operation by the Bengaluru police and the city’s crime branch.Sosale, arrested at Bengaluru Airport as he was about to board a flight to Dubai, has approached the Karnataka High Court challenging the legality of his detention. According to news agency PTI, Justice S R Krishna Kumar heard the plea but declined to grant interim relief, adjourning the matter to June 9.As reported by news agency ANI, Sosale has claimed in his petition that the arrest was “arbitrary, illegal, and without any material basis,” alleging that it occurred even before any preliminary investigation had been conducted.The police had registered an FIR against RCB, event organiser DNA Entertainment, and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) on Thursday, invoking serious charges including culpable homicide and illegal assembly after chaos broke out during RCB’s IPL victory celebration. The free-entry event drew nearly 3 lakh people, leading to a deadly crush at the gates.In response to the FIR, senior KSCA officials, including president Raghuram Bhat and secretary A Shankar, moved the High Court seeking quashing of charges. The court granted interim protection from arrest to KSCA office bearers, directing them to fully cooperate with the investigation until the next hearing on June 16.Meanwhile, the state government suspended multiple senior police officials, including Bengaluru Police commissioner B Dayananda, following the incident. Others suspended include additional commissioner Vikash Kumar Vikash and DCP (Central) Shekhar HT.Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah defended the government’s action amid BJP criticism, stating, “We have taken action against those who were visibly responsible and negligent in their duty,” and accused the opposition of politicising the tragedy.Deputy CM DK Shivakumar added, “The government has done its best to give justice… The case has been handed over to CID, and a judicial inquiry is underway”.On the political front, BJP state president BY Vijayendra claimed, “The government acted only under pressure,” referencing the sudden suspensions and arrests made post the public outcry.The Karnataka High Court has also taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and asked the state to file a status report by June 10. A one-man inquiry panel led by retired judge Justice John Michael D’Cunha has been appointed to probe the incident.
