New Delhi: Following the death of 11 people in a stampede outside the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium during the IPL 2025 victory celebrations of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on June 4, the Bengaluru Police on Friday arrested four officials, including the marketing head of the franchise.
The Bengaluru police on Friday arrested RCB’s Marketing and Revenue head Nikhil Sosale who was waiting to board a flight to Mumbai from the Kempegowda International Airport. The police also arrested Kiran Kumar (Senior Event Manager) and Sunil Mathew (Vice President – Business Affairs), who were working for DNA Entertainment Network, the event management company in charge of the victory celebrations.
Sosale has been RCB’s marketing and revenue head for over two years now. Apart from his IPL commitments, he also leads the brand and business endeavours of RCB in the Women’s Premier League (WPL). Sosale was originally employed by Diageo India, the current operator of United Spirits Limited (USL), which owns RCB after Vijay Mallya’s exit.
An alumnus of James Cook University in Queensland, Australia, Sosale being in RCB’s marketing and business strategy side of things means he may had a strong role to play in the arrangement of a bus parade and the celebrations in the stadium to celebrate the franchise’s first-ever IPL title, as well as in negotiating with the police and government authorities.
Sosale has also been seen countless times on TV when RCB’s matches are on and was spotted many times in the franchise’s pictures posted on social media. In terms of Kiran, he has been the Senior Event Manager at DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt Ltd., and has worked in the company since June 2012.
On the other hand, Sunil is currently the vice president of business affairs at DNA, a company where he has been employed since June 2000. Another official of the DNA team who has been arrested is Sumanth, who leads the ticketing operations of the events organised by the company.
Apart from the arrested four individuals, there is also a lookout for Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Secretary A Shankar and Treasurer Jayaram, apart from other RCB and DNA officials who have played a part in the decision-making of the events which ultimately made a glorious day of celebration into a tragic evening.
(IANS)
