Bengaluru stampede: RCB worker given temporary release

Nikhil Sosale, the head of marketing and revenue for RCB, has been given temporary release but is also being ordered to give over his passport.

Following the stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium during RCB’s IPL victory celebrations on June 4 that resulted in 11 fatalities, Sosale and two DNA Entertainment Network employees, Kiran Kumar (Senior Event Manager) and Sunil Mathew (Vice President-Business Affairs), were taken into custody last Friday, June 6.

Early on Friday, June 6, the Central Crime Branch picked Sosale up from the airport. In the Karnataka High Court on Friday, Sosale’s attorney contested the arrest’s legitimacy; however, the matter was postponed until the beginning of this week. After hearing arguments from both parties until Wednesday, the HC made its verdict public on Thursday afternoon, June 12.

“Lakhs of people gathered at the stadium for the program and the crowd became uncontrollable due to the confusion of organisers on how to allow the people into the stadium which has a seating capacity of around 35,000,” stated the police FIR that resulted in the arrests. 11 persons were killed and 56 injured in the rush disaster and commotion that happened at gates 2, 2A, 6, 7, 15, 17, 18, 20, and 21. Due to the RCB’s announcement on their official website regarding the distribution of free entry passes, thousands of people gathered outside the stadium, which sparked the incident.