Bengaluru Stampede: RCB Official, 3 Others Sent To 14-day Judicial Custody
The arrests were carried out by a joint team comprising the city’s crime branch and local police. RCB Head of Marketing and Revenue was apprehended at the airport just as he was about to depart for Dubai.
A Bengaluru court on Friday sent four individuals, including a senior Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) official, to 14 days in judicial custody in connection with the tragic stampede outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium earlier this week that claimed 11 lives.
Those remanded include Nikhil Sosale, Head of Marketing and Revenue at RCB, and well as Sunil Mathew, Sumanth, and Kiran Kumar, the three representatives of DNA Entertainment Private Limited, the event management firm responsible for organising the celebration.
Sosale was apprehended at Bengaluru Airport just as he was about to depart for Dubai. His legal team had moved swiftly, filing a petition in the Karnataka High Court to challenge his arrest. However, Justice S R Krishna Kumar declined to grant interim relief and postponed the hearing to June 9.
The arrests were carried out by a joint team comprising the city’s crime branch and local police.
Siddaramaiah's Political Secy Sacked
Amid mounting pressure following the fatal stampede, which also left 56 injured, the Karnataka government initiated a string of administrative changes. On Friday, MLC K Govindaraj was “relieved” from his post as Political Secretary to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
“The appointment of K Govindaraj as Political Secretary to the Chief Minister is hereby revoked with immediate effect,” an official notification stated. While no formal reason was cited, official sources confirm that the decision is directly linked to the June 4 tragedy.
This development came just a day after Siddaramaish suspended Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda and four other senior officers.
ADGP Intelligence Transferred Amid Questions Over Security Lapses
Facing heat over an alleged intelligence failure, the state government also transferred Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Intelligence, Hemant Nimbalkar. He has now been reassigned as ADGP and Commissioner, Department of Information and Public Relations in Bengaluru.
Ravi S, also a senior IPS officer, has been appointed as Nimbalkar’s replacement in the Intelligence Department.
“Hemant M. Nimbalkar, IPS (KN 1998)… is transferred with immediate effect… Ravi S, IPS (KN 1998)… is posted until further orders as Additional Director General of Police, Intelligence vice Hemant M Nimbalkar, transferred,” the notification stated.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, addressing the media on Thursday, acknowledged lapses in intelligence handling. "No decision has been made yet about what action to be taken in this regard. We have discussed it," he said, admitting that the tragedy exposed serious flaws in crowd control and preparedness.
The incident continues to stir outrage across Karnataka, with many demanding accountability for what is being viewed as an avoidable disaster stemming from administrative negligence.
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