Bengaluru stampede: Mohandas Pai defends city police commissioner, says 'Kangaroo FIR' filed against RCB

Hours after Nikhil Sosale, the marketing and revenue head of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), approached the Karnataka High Court challenging his arrest, Aarin Capital Chairman Mohandas Pai came in support of him, reported NDTV.

The former Infosys chief financial officer referred to the first information report (FIR) and action against RCB without an in-depth inquiry as "Kangaroo FIR" and a 'premature' move by the Karnataka administration.

Slamming the arrests made in the Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede case, where 11 people were killed and more than 50 injured on Wednesday, Pai said, as quoted by NDTV, "The arrest is premature and wrong. Arresting all these people sends the wrong message. What has the marketing manager of RCB done, except be in RCB?"

"We have to be reasonable. All of us are devastated. If the inquiry says the RCB is at fault, then file the FIR. This is a Kangaroo FIR," he added.

Sosale was arrested at the Kempegowda International Airport and taken into custody by the police on June 6 after the Cubbon Park Police Station registered an FIR against Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited (RCSPL), the franchise owner of RCB, and its officials.

On police commissioner's suspension

Expressing his anger over the suspension of the police commissioner, Pai stated that the government had sent the wrong message by suspending senior police officers.

"The government has sent the wrong message by suspending the commissioner of police. Take action against the local cops. These issues are handled by people down the line," he said.

"Can you blame the lower-level police who were responsible for the area, yes, of course. Can you blame the police commissioner? I don't think so. You are demoralising the entire top police command," he added.

Lack of basic facilities for crowd

The Aarin Capital chairman questioned the lack of basic facilities for the crowd.

“All these things are diverting attention from the real issue. The real issue is how did three lakh people show up? Can the people arrive in 10 minutes? The people would have come four hours before. The police would have estimated. This was not a natural crowd. There is a protocol for managing the crowd. Whenever an accident happens on the highway, will you go arrest the cops?” he asked.

"There were no ambulances. We saw people carrying the victims. Where were the ambulances? Where was the first aid treatment? Lives could have been saved," he added.