3 days ago
Who Is Nikhil Sosale? Senior RCB official arrested by Bengaluru police over stampede case, he works as...
Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) celebrations of winning the IPL 2025 title turned pale on Wednesday when at least 11 people died and 56 others were injured in a massive stampede outside the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The stampede took place when a huge crowd gathered to join the bus parade, which was planned just hours after the team defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the final on Tuesday. In the wake of the incident, four RCB officials have been arrested, including Nikhil Sosle, RCB's marketing and revenue head. Image credit: X (Formerly Twitter)
Born on August 18, 1986, Sosle has been the marketing and revenue head of RCB for the last two years, according to his LinkedIn profile. Sosle is originally an employee of Diageo India, which operates RCB owner United Spirits Limited (USL). USL became the full-time owner of RCB after the departure of former owner Vijay Mallya.
Talking about Sosle, he is in charge of the design and strategy behind the RCB brand. Sosle, who lives in Bengaluru, has been with Diageo for 13 years, where he has worked closely with the franchise throughout. Sosle has also been the head of commercial partnerships at RCB. Virat Kohli can be seen with his wife Anushka Sharma in the RCB's private box. Kohli also follows him on Instagram. Sosle's wife Malvika Nayak is a long-time friend of Anushka.
RCB's marketing and revenue head Nikhil Sosle, Sunil Mathew of DNA Entertainment Pvt Ltd and Kiran Kumar were questioned. According to the police, Sosle was on his way to Mumbai when he was arrested from Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport around 6.30 am on Friday.
On Thursday, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ordered the arrest of RCB representatives after an FIR was lodged against them, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Sosale along with three members of event management company DNA Entertainment Pvt Ltd have been arrested.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday ordered the suspension of Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayanand and several senior police officers in connection with the stampede in front of the Chinnaswamy Stadium here and appointed senior IPS officer Seemant Kumar Singh as Bengaluru Police Commissioner until further orders. [...] According to a notification, senior IPS officer and Additional Director General of Police of Bengaluru Metropolitan Task Force Seemant Kumar Singh has been "transferred with immediate effect and posted as Additional Director General of Police and Bengaluru Police Commissioner until further orders."
Meanwhile, the families of those killed in Wednesday's tragic incident are still inconsolable and have blamed the authorities for the stampede. [...] Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar became emotional while talking about the incident and said that the image of Bengaluru has been tarnished due to the incident. He said, "We are deeply saddened. The victims are our own family members. Image of Karnataka, image of Bengaluru... Yes, we take it (responsibility). We are not blaming others, though it has happened very unexpectedly."
