
Bengaluru stampede: Karnataka HC restrains police from arresting RCB official, three others
The decision follows the High Court's June 12 ruling, which declared as ' illegal ' the arrest of Nikhil Sosale, the marketing head of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, along with event management firm DNA Entertainment Networks' Sunil Mathew, Kiran Kumar S and Shamant NP Mavinakere.
The court had also granted them interim bail.
They were arrested after eleven persons were killed and more than 50 were injured on June 4 in the stampede near the stadium, where fans had gathered to celebrate the Royal Challengers Bengaluru's victory in the Indian Premier League.
Justice SR Krishna Kumar on Tuesday ordered the petitioners to cooperate with the investigation. He added that this arrangement will remain in effect until the next hearing on July 8.
The four persons were arrested hours after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the state government had ordered the arrest of representatives from the Karnataka State Cricket Association, DNA Entertainment Networks and Royal Challengers Bengaluru for the stampede.
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Indian Express
2 days ago
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Karnataka HC orders BJP MLA B A Basavaraj to appear before police in murder probe of Bengaluru realtor
The Karnataka High Court Friday directed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and former minister B A Basavaraj to appear for police questioning in connection with the killing of a realtor in east Bengaluru earlier this week. The order, issued in response to a petition filed by Basavaraj seeking a stay on the investigation, comes just days after Bengaluru police named him as the fifth accused in the murder of V G Shivaprakash, also known as Bikla Shiva. Shivaprakash, 44, was hacked to death on a city street near Ulsoor Lake on July 15. 'In the meanwhile, by way of an interim arrangement and without prejudice to the rights and contentions of the parties, petitioner is directed to appear before the 1st respondent police authorities on 19.07.2025 at 11.30 a.m. as indicated in the Notice at Annexure-J dated 16.07.2025 issued to the petitioner,' the HC said in its interim order on Friday. The court added that if the MLA appeared for the investigation on Saturday, the 'police shall proceed further strictly in accordance with law' and comply with provisions for the arrest of individuals. The BJP MLA was named as accused on account of the murder being allegedly executed by Jagadish, aka Jagga, a close associate of the MLA. Jagga has been named as the prime accused, along with his associates Kiran, Vimal Raj, Anil and others. Basavaraj, also known as Byrathi Basavaraj, is the cousin of Karnataka urban development minister and Congress leader Byrathi Suresh. The BJP MLA was previously with the Congress, but had shifted his allegiance in 2019, along with 16 other Congress and JDS MLAs, to help the BJP topple the then JDS-Congress government in the state. Basavaraj has a reputation as a land shark and realtor in east Bengaluru, whose fortunes have surged exponentially in the last decade, since he has been the K R Puram MLA. The murdered realtor, Bikla Shiva, had previously lodged complaints with the Bengaluru police over receiving threats regarding a disputed one-acre property in the Kithaganur area of east Bengaluru from the associates of the MLA — who were also claimants to the property by way of agreements with one section of the owners. Bikla Shiva, too, had a criminal history and multiple cases of extortion and violence against him in police stations across east Bengaluru. The Bengaluru police have so far arrested five persons for Bikla Shiva's murder. The accused have been identified as Kiran K, Vimal Raj, Pradeep K, Madan R and Samuel V, all of whom have crime records and are suspected henchmen of Jagga. Following the arrest, the Bengaluru police had issued summons to the BJP MLA to appear before them for investigation into the matter. However, the MLA approached the Karnataka HC for a stay on the investigations and quashing of the FIR against him. Bikla Shiva was reportedly involved in a public spat over the one-acre Kithaganur property with the arrested Vimal Raj in February this year, a video of which was also captured. A resident of Meanee Avenue, Bikla Shiva, was standing outside his residence on the evening of July 15 and speaking to his driver, Imran, and friend, Lokesh, when over eight people arrived at the spot on bikes and attacked him. In her complaint to the police, Bikla Shiva's mother, Vijayalakshmi, said she witnessed the murder from the balcony of her house. Basavaraj, however, has denied the allegations against him, saying that they were 'politically motivated'. 'The property in question falls under the Mahadevapura Assembly segment. What interest will I have there? I don't even know Shivaprakash. If he had complained, alleging that I was behind the death threats, why was I not questioned even once by the police?' the BJP MLA Basavaraj argued.


Indian Express
2 days ago
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‘It is a case of damned if you do, damned if you don't': IPS officer's counsel to Karnataka HC on post-Bengaluru stampede suspension
IPS officer Vikash Kumar Vikash's counsel, Senior Advocate Dhyan Chinappa, told the Karnataka High Court Friday that the state government's stand on the issue of suspension of IPS officers in the wake of the June 4 Bengaluru stadium stampede was a case of 'damned if you do, damned if you don't.' He was referring to prior statements of the government regarding the steps it had taken for the event, in contrast with questions raised by the state in the previous hearing on Thursday on why the police took security steps in an event without permission. The statements were made in the context of the government's appeal against the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order quashing the suspension of several IPS officers, which is currently being heard by a bench consisting of Justices T M Nadaf and S G Pandit. In the previous hearing this Thursday, the state counsel had referred to the police as having acted as 'servants of RCB (Royal Challengers Bengaluru' in making security arrangements for the June 4 event near Chinnaswamy stadium, also questioning why this was done instead of prohibiting the event when there was no official permission. Arguing for the other side, Chinappa had raised questions regarding the procedure of the suspension and whether it was being done in a 'punitive' manner, which would not be permissible under existing regulations, noting that the IPS officers had been scapegoats in the incident. At the outset of Friday's submissions, Chinappa stated that it would be 'unfortunate' if the statement that the police had behaved as 'servants' was the stand of the state rather than the argument of the counsel. Regarding the suspension, he said, 'First you say I want to find out the causes… pending finding the causes there is dereliction of duty? If there was material the government could have said this is the basis on which we have come to a conclusion, there is dereliction of duty, we are suspending.' Chinappa added that the statement made in the report submitted to the high court regarding 'accountability' indicated that the suspension was done as a punishment. Referring to the report on the stampede filed before the high court by the state, he added, 'How can they turn around and say… who asked them to do bandobast, they are servants of RCB… But is that the stand of the Government before this court?' While concluding his submissions for the day, Chinappa stated, 'It is one thing if the officers were not there at the site, if they were sleeping on duty… it is another thing when they were there, managing the crowd, and an incident occurred.' Chinappa's arguments on behalf of IPS officer Vikash are set to conclude on Monday (July 21). Eleven people died and several more were injured in the stampede outside the Bengaluru cricket stadium during an event called to celebrate the maiden Indian Premier League trophy win for RCB.