The Karnataka High Court on Monday heard a petition filed by the wife of Nikhil Sosale, the marketing and revenue head of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). She claimed that her husband was arrested only because of an order from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and not after a proper investigation based on the FIR. The court has now asked whether the Chief Minister was wrong to order the arrest.
Sosale’s lawyer also claims in HC that he was arrested based on the Karnataka CM’s orders. The claim was made during a hearing on Sosale’s petition challenging his arrest at the Bengaluru airport on June 6, as he was preparing to fly to Dubai. The arrest was linked to an FIR registered after the stampede near M Chinnaswamy Stadium that killed 11 people.
Sosale’s lawyer questioned why the Central Crime Branch (CCB) had made the arrest, despite the case falling under the jurisdiction of Ashok Nagar police (where Sosale lives) or Cubbon Park police (which covers the stadium area).
“It was not part of the investigation, just because the CM said so, the CCB arrested him, though they are not investigating the case,” the lawyer argued.
On June 6, Justice S R Krishna Kumar, who heard the plea in an afternoon session, refused interim relief and adjourned the matter to June 9.
Later that day, Sosale and three others from DNA Entertainment Pvt Ltd were sent to 14-day judicial custody by the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court.
With inputs from PTI