Bengaluru stampede | Police arrest two officials: reports

After the death of 11 cricket fans during Royal Challengers Bengaluru`s victory parade near the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, the city`s s police have arrested two people, including the franchise`s senior executive, reports stated on Friday.

Following RCB`s historic triumph, thousands of people turned out on the Bengaluru streets to welcome their favourite cricket heroes. But the victory parade turned out into a tragedy as 11 fans died and several others were injured in the stampede.

Media outlet India Today said that Nikhil Sosale, RCB`s head of marketing, was arrested at Bengaluru`s airport. The Indian Express newspaper reported that Sosale was arrested along with an executive from an event management company.

The victory that should have been celebrated has sparked anger, and top police officers have been suspended. Following the incident, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stated that legal action has been taken against the RCB representatives.

The deaths of people were mostly aged between 14 and 29, who came to get a glimpse of their cricket stars. Later, the franchise released a statement which read, “The unfortunate incident in Bengaluru yesterday has caused a lot of anguish and pain to the RCB family. As a mark of respect and a gesture of solidarity, RCB has announced a financial support of INR 10 lakh to each of the eleven families of the deceased”.

In the IPL 2025 final against Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru came victorious by six runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Virat Kohli was the top scorer in the final. Expressing his views on the unexpected stampede, Kohli said, “at a loss for words”.

The scenes leading up to the tragedy reminded one of the historic welcome given to the T20 World Cup-winning Indian squad by Mumbai in July last year. However, while the sea of humanity had a gala time in Mumbai, things went out of control in Bengaluru.

(With inputs from AFP)

This article first appeared on Mid Day