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Political slugfest over rampage at Lionel Messi’s Kolkata event intensifies
Governor C V Ananda Bose, three-member inquiry team and Bidhan Nagar police commissioner visited the stadium separately on Sunday
Kolkata: Even as a district court on Sunday remanded Satadru Dutta, the organiser of Lionel Messi’s West Bengal tour, in police custody for two weeks, the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party blamed each other for Saturday’s rampage at Kolkata’s Salt Lake stadium by a section of spectators who bought tickets to see the Argentine football star but flared up when he left in a hurry because of alleged mismanagement.
TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh pointed at photos and videos of some of the spectators carrying saffron flags and raising the Jai Sri Ram slogan during the vandalism that prompted police to disperse the crowd.
Most of the spectators in the 50,000-strong crowd had purchased tickets priced between ₹4,500 and ₹18,000. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee publicly apologised to them on Saturday and ordered an inquiry by a three-member committee headed by retired Calcutta high court judge Asim Kumar Roy.
Accusing BJP of trying to defame the ruling party in the run-up to the 2026 assembly polls, Ghosh also shared a photo of BJP legislator and former Indian cricketer Ashok Dinda on the grounds.
“What was Dinda, an MLA known to be close to the state legislative assembly’s leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari doing at Salt Lake stadium? Why were some people carrying saffron flags and raising the Jai Sri Ram slogan? Did Messi come to attend a BJP event?” Ghosh said.
“The police should probe into this,” he added.
Addressing a press conference, Adhikari said not only Dinda but all BJP MLAs, including him, were given invitation cards by the organisers but only the former cricketer went to the stadium.
“Having cheated thousands of Messi fans, TMC is trying to divert attention from sports minister Aroop Biswas and fire services minister Sujit Bose who surrounded Messi with members of their families to take selfies. Some members of the chief minister’s family were also there. Those who bought tickets could not even see Messi as a result,” Adhikari said, displaying photos of the people he mentioned.
HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the photos and videos that were circulated.
“Biswas and Bose should be sacked from the government and arrested. They made money from the event,” Adhikari added.
While Sujit Bose did not talk to the media, Biswas said: “I will not comment because an inquiry by the government is on.”
After the Bidhan Nagar court remanded Satadru Dutta in police custody for 14 days on Sunday, his lawyer Dyutimoy Bhattarcharya claimed that his client was innocent.
“My client was not involved in managing the event inside the stadium. He bought Messi for an interaction with small children. He is being framed,” Bhattacharya said.
Messi’s much-anticipated visit to the stadium, as part of the “GOAT (greatest of all time) tour”, lasted barely 22 minutes. The tour, which comprises a series of promotional events covering Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi, began with Messi virtually unveiling a 70ft statue of himself due to security concerns. Shortly after this, he left for the Salt Lake Stadium, where thousands of fans had been waiting since around 4 am.
According to people familiar with the matter, the first signs of trouble surfaced around 15 minutes after Messi and his Inter Miami teammates, Luis Suárez and Rodrigo de Paul, arrived at the stadium around 11.30 am.
Within minutes, Messi found himself surrounded by politicians, police, VIPs and their entourages who formed a wall that left spectators with a view of everything but the man they came to see. “We want to see Messi,” the fans shouted frantically from the stands.
Allegations were raised on social media on Sunday that amounts much higher than the price of the costliest tickets were taken from some people against promises that they could take selfies with Messi and bottles of branded purified water were sold inside the stadium in violation of safety rules.
In a video, the authenticity of which could not be verified by HT, a vendor was purportedly seen selling a bottle of water having a price tag of ₹20 for ₹200 although Bidhan Nagar’s deputy commissioner of police Anish Sarkar told the media on December 12 that water bottles and inflammable materials would not be allowed inside the stadium.
On Saturday, the crowd hurled these water bottles at the police and even tried to set some property on fire. The nets from the goal posts and chairs in the stands were ripped off.
Bidhan Nagar police commissioner Mukesh Kumar, the three-member inquiry team and governor C V Ananda Bose visited the stadium separately on Sunday.
“A number of events were lined up but the organisers could not hold these because of mismanagement. We have started two cases. More people will be summoned and questioned. The sale of bottled water is also being probed,” Kumar said.
Justice (retired) Asim Kumar Roy refused to comment on the findings during Sunday’s visit to the stadium.
“We have taken notes. My report will reflect on several aspects, including measures to be taken before events like these,” he told the media.
State chief secretary Manoj Pant, a member of the committee, said: “We have been told to file a report in 15 days with our findings and recommendations. You have to wait for that.”
The governor, who tried to enter the stadium on Saturday after the incident but failed because the gates had been closed, said he will submit a report to the Centre.
“I will make several recommendations, the principal among which is a judicial inquiry into this incident, arrest of all organisers and not just one, refund of the money taken from the spectators and freezing of the organiser’s bank account, “ he said.
“I will also recommend a standard operating procedure (SOP) for events like these and an insurance scheme for spectorators the premium for which is to be paid by the organisers,” the governor added.
