Indian police arrest four people in connection with deadly cricket stampede

Police in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru have arrested four people after a stampede during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) cricket team’s Indian Premier League victory celebrations killed 11 people and injured at least 47, local media reported.

Three people from an event management company and one official from the RCB team were arrested on Friday, according to local media reports.

Media outlet India Today said Nikhil Sosale, Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s head of marketing, was arrested at Bengaluru’s airport.

The Indian Express newspaper reported Sosale was arrested along with an executive from an event management company.

There was no immediate comment from RCB.

Tens of thousands of people had packed the streets of the city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka on Wednesday to welcome home their hero Virat Kohli and his RCB team after they beat Punjab Kings in the final of the Indian Premier League.

As the team was celebrating with the trophy inside a stadium in the city, thousands of people tried to push through the gates, leading to a stampede.

The franchise said later the incident was “unfortunate” and pledged one million Indian rupees ($11, 655) to each family of the 11 fans who died.

The deaths have prompted widespread anger and top police officers have been suspended.

On Thursday during a news conference, Karnataka state’s chief minister Siddaramaiah, who only uses one name, criticised the suspended officials.

“These officers appear to be irresponsible and negligent and it has been decided to suspend them”, Siddaramaiah said.

The chief minister also said “legal action has been taken against the representatives of RCB”, as well as the event organisers and the state’s cricket association. He noted that a first information report, which marks the start of a police investigation, had been “registered against them”.

Kohli, who top-scored in the final, said he was “at a loss for words” after celebrations of a dream first IPL crown turned to tragedy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the accident “absolutely heartrending”.

Stampedes occur frequently in India, mainly at religious events, but it was the first time in 45 years that fans had died in a crush at a sporting event, local media said.

India’s head cricket coach Gautam Gambhir said on Thursday he did not support such roadshows and celebrations.

“Celebration is important. But more important than that is the life of any person. Therefore, we might as well not have these roadshows if we aren’t prepared or if we can’t handle the crowd that way, Gambhir said in a press release.