The Karnataka High Court on Thursday ordered interim release of Royal Challengers Bengaluru marketing head Nikhil Sosale and three others arrested in connection with the June 4 stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, which claimed 11 lives, news agency PTI reported.

The other accused, Sunil Mathew, Kiran Kumar S, and Shamant N P Mavinakere, are officials from DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt Ltd, the event management company that organised the victory celebration for RCB's maiden IPL title win.

Justice S R Krishna Kumar, who heard arguments on June 11, passed the order while directing all four to surrender their passports.

The four were arrested on June 6 and were in judicial custody. On June 9, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) produced them before a magistrate court seeking nine days' custody, but the court deferred the decision pending the High Court's verdict.

CID withdraws custody plea for Nikhil Sosale and others

On Tuesday, the Karnataka Criminal Investigation Department (CID) withdrew its request for the custodial interrogation of four individuals linked to the stampede outside Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium, Indian Express reported.

The CID had initially sought nine days' custody of the accused to investigate lapses in planning and crowd control at the event. However, the move was challenged by senior advocate Sandesh Chouta, representing RCB's Head of Marketing, Nikhil Sosale, who pointed out that the matter was already under consideration by the High Court.

The magistrate hearing the case also questioned the urgency of the CID's request, asking what could be achieved in just one day of custody before the High Court's verdict was expected. CID's Assistant Superintendent of Police, Jagadeesh, defended the need for interrogation, citing its relevance to investigating how the tragedy unfolded, the report added.