Indian authorities have arrested four people, including the top marketing official of a cricket team, over the deaths in a stampede in the southern city of Bengaluru where the celebration of a match victory turned fatal.
At least 11 people died and 56 were seriously wounded on Wednesday when a crowd of tens of thousands of fans swelled outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and grew unmanageable, leading to a crush.
The celebrations for the Indian Premier League title’s winner Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), which has been a runner up at least three times before and a fan-favourite, took a deadly turn within minutes. Locals said it was allegedly announced free entry would be permitted for the celebration in the stadium, causing the crowd to surge.
Police officials said a top marketing official of RCB, Nikhil Sosale, was among those arrested. He was arrested from Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport on Friday around 6.30am when he was on his way to board a flight to Mumbai.
His arrest comes after the Karnataka police filed a First Information Report (FIR), often the first step in any police investigation in India, against the winning team, an event management firm and the Karnataka State Cricket Administration (KSCA) under various sections of Indian law, including culpable homicide, voluntarily causing hurt, and unlawful assembly, among several others.
The FIR stated that the state police had denied permission to hold the celebration.
Mr Sosala also approached the Karnataka High Court, objecting to the manner in which he was arrested, calling the method illegal, arbitrary, and violative of his fundamental rights.
He added that the arrest was made on the instructions of state chief minister Siddaramaiah without even the police carrying out a preliminary inquiry.
Police officials said the arrests were made in an overnight operation by the Central Crime Branch and the accused are likely to be sent to the Crime Investigation Department on Friday.
Naseer Ahmed, political secretary for the Karnataka chief minister, told broadcaster NDTV the crowd became uncontrollable and authorities were unable to make proper arrangements.
Chief minister Siddaramaiah said the fans of the team superseded the authorities’ estimates.
“At a time of celebration, this unfortunate event should not have happened. We are saddened by this. The fans that showed up were beyond our expectations,” he said.
Thousands of people, some waving the home team’s red flag, had lined streets around the Chinnaswamy Stadium as the players arrived in a bus in the evening, TV channels showed, with some climbing trees and the stadium wall for a better view.
One policeman carried an injured spectator to an ambulance, while people gathered around another lying seemingly unconscious on the ground.
