Bengaluru: 

The move to arrest the officials of RCB and DNA came following orders from Karnataka's chief minister Siddaramaiah. The decision was taken following the death of 11 people in a stampede outside caused by the horrid mismanagement outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium during RCB's IPL victory celebrations on Wednesday, June 4.

The Bengaluru Police arrested Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) Head of Marketing and Revenue, Nikhil Sosale, from the Kempegowda International Airport here on Friday. The employees of DNA Entertainment Network, Kiran Kumar (Senior Event Manager) and Sunil Mathew (Vice President - Business Affairs), were also detained by the police.

In addition to this, the Karnataka CM also announced the immediate suspension of several top police officials, including Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda, additional commissioner (west) Vikash Kumar Vikash, DCP (central) Shekhar H Tekkannavar and other lower officials from Cubbon Park Police Station.

Siddaramaiah had said on Thursday, "The cabinet, in its wisdom, has made a decision to entrust (to investigate) yesterday's tragedy to a one-man judicial commission, headed by retired high court judge of Karnataka Justice Michael D'Cunha. We have told the commission to give the report in 30 days and also instructed the IGP and DGP of the state to immediately arrest the RCB representative DNA event managers and the person representing KSCA."

"And also, the cabinet has made a decision to immediately suspend the Police Inspector of the Cubbon Park PS, ACP of that particular area, DCP of Central division, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Additional Commissioner of Police, the Incharge of the Stadium and Commissioner of Police of Bengaluru City. An FIR was filed yesterday. I have entrusted the inquiry to CID. These are the decisions that we have taken in the cabinet today," it added.

The FIR filed by the Cubbon Park police reads that due to the initiation of all possible precautionary measures by the police, a greater tragedy was averted.

The FIR states: “At 6 p.m. on June 3, Shubendu Ghosh, the Chief Executive Officer of the KSCA, submitted a memorandum to the Police Inspector seeking arrangements for security measures for the victory celebrations at the stadium on June 4. The inspector told him clearly that if RCB wins, the fans will celebrate all night, and security arrangements will have to be made for that. If the KSCA organizes another programme the next day, there will be disruption.”

The FIR has been registered under Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 118(1) (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt by using dangerous weapons or means), 118(2) read with Section 3(5) (voluntarily causing grievous hurt, when the act is done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 190 (unlawful assembly), 132 (criminal force to deter a public servant), 125(a) (filing false affidavit), and 125(b) (rash and negligent acts that endanger human life).

“The Police Inspector told him that time was needed to arrange security measures, and permission was therefore denied for victory celebrations. Despite the denial of permission, RCB, DNA, and KSCA exerted pressure for the victory celebrations event to be held on June 4."

"Afterwards, senior officers prepared security measures and sought permission from the Bengaluru Police Commissioner. Police personnel were immediately brought in from all police stations of Bengaluru city, and security was also arranged at the Vidhana Soudha programme to felicitate players,” the FIR mentions.

Additional staff were brought in from the Police Training Centre and Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP). Traffic police were deputed to manage vehicle movements, and a traffic advisory was issued. Security was arranged at the HAL airport where the RCB players arrived, at the star hotel where they checked in, and separate pilot escorts were arranged for the RCB players, says the FIR.

RCB, DNA, and KSCA failed to decide how entry should be given to the gathered fans. Wherever there were large groups, gates were opened, and as people moved in, a stampede occurred. Police officers, KSCA staff, and VIP security staff managed the crowd and managed to bring out the victims and ensured their admission to hospitals, the FIR stated.

However, the police ensured that the celebration programme, which started at 5.45 p.m., was held without any disruption. Security was provided to all players and VIPs, the FIR stated.

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