Kolkata: Whilst a district court docket on Sunday remanded Satadru Dutta, the organiser of Lionel Messi’s West Bengal tour, in police custody for 2 weeks, the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress and opposition Bharatiya Janata Social gathering blamed one another for Saturday’s rampage at Kolkata’s Salt Lake stadium by a piece of spectators who purchased tickets to see the Argentine soccer star however flared up when he left in a rush due to alleged mismanagement.
TMC state normal secretary Kunal Ghosh pointed at photographs and movies of a few of the spectators carrying saffron flags and elevating the Jai Sri Ram slogan in the course of the vandalism that prompted police to disperse the group.
Many of the spectators within the 50,000-strong crowd had bought 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 excessive court docket decide Asim Kumar Roy.
Accusing BJP of attempting to defame the ruling celebration within the run-up to the 2026 meeting polls, Ghosh additionally shared a photograph of BJP legislator and former Indian cricketer Ashok Dinda on the grounds.
“What was Dinda, an MLA identified to be near the state legislative meeting’s chief of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari doing at Salt Lake stadium? Why had been some individuals carrying saffron flags and elevating the Jai Sri Ram slogan? Did Messi come to attend a BJP occasion?” Ghosh stated.
“The police ought to probe into this,” he added.
Addressing a press convention, Adhikari stated not solely Dinda however all BJP MLAs, together with him, got invitation playing cards by the organisers however solely the previous cricketer went to the stadium.
“Having cheated hundreds of Messi followers, TMC is attempting to divert consideration from sports activities minister Aroop Biswas and fireplace providers minister Sujit Bose who surrounded Messi with members of their households to take selfies. Some members of the chief minister’s household had been additionally there. Those that purchased tickets couldn’t even see Messi consequently,” Adhikari stated, displaying photographs of the individuals he talked about.
HT couldn’t independently confirm the authenticity of the photographs and movies that had been circulated.
“Biswas and Bose needs to be sacked from the federal government and arrested. They made cash from the occasion,” Adhikari added.
Whereas Sujit Bose didn’t speak to the media, Biswas stated: “I cannot remark as a result of an inquiry by the federal government is on.”
After the Bidhan Nagar court docket remanded Satadru Dutta in police custody for 14 days on Sunday, his lawyer Dyutimoy Bhattarcharya claimed that his consumer was harmless.
“My consumer was not concerned in managing the occasion contained in the stadium. He purchased Messi for an interplay with young children. He’s being framed,” Bhattacharya stated.
Messi’s much-anticipated go to to the stadium, as a part of the “GOAT (best of all time) tour”, lasted barely 22 minutes. The tour, which contains a collection of promotional occasions masking Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi, started with Messi nearly unveiling a 70ft statue of himself because of safety issues. Shortly after this, he left for the Salt Lake Stadium, the place hundreds of followers had been ready since round 4 am.
In line with individuals acquainted with the matter, the primary indicators of hassle surfaced round quarter-hour after Messi and his Inter Miami teammates, Luis Suárez and Rodrigo de Paul, arrived on the stadium round 11.30 am.
Inside minutes, Messi discovered himself surrounded by politicians, police, VIPs and their entourages who fashioned a wall that left spectators with a view of every little thing however the man they got here to see. “We need to see Messi,” the followers shouted frantically from the stands.
Allegations had been raised on social media on Sunday that quantities a lot increased than the worth of the most expensive tickets had been taken from some individuals towards guarantees that they may take selfies with Messi and bottles of branded purified water had been bought contained in the stadium in violation of security guidelines.
In a video, the authenticity of which couldn’t be verified by HT, a vendor was purportedly seen promoting a bottle of water having a price ticket of ₹20 for ₹200 though Bidhan Nagar’s deputy commissioner of police Anish Sarkar advised the media on December 12 that water bottles and inflammable supplies wouldn’t be allowed contained in the stadium.
On Saturday, the group hurled these water bottles on the police and even tried to set some property on fireplace. The nets from the objective posts and chairs within the stands had been ripped off.
Bidhan Nagar police commissioner Mukesh Kumar, the three-member inquiry crew and governor C V Ananda Bose visited the stadium individually on Sunday.
“Various occasions had been lined up however the organisers couldn’t maintain these due to mismanagement. We have now began two instances. Extra individuals can be summoned and questioned. The sale of bottled water can be being probed,” Kumar stated.
Justice (retired) Asim Kumar Roy refused to touch upon the findings throughout Sunday’s go to to the stadium.
“We have now taken notes. My report will replicate on a number of features, together with measures to be taken earlier than occasions like these,” he advised the media.
State chief secretary Manoj Pant, a member of the committee, stated: “We have now been advised to file a report in 15 days with our findings and suggestions. It’s important to look forward to that.”
The governor, who tried to enter the stadium on Saturday after the incident however failed as a result of the gates had been closed, stated he’ll submit a report back to the Centre.
“I’ll make a number of suggestions, the principal amongst which is a judicial inquiry into this incident, arrest of all organisers and never only one, refund of the cash taken from the spectators and freezing of the organiser’s checking account, “ he stated.
“I may even advocate a typical working process (SOP) for occasions like these and an insurance coverage scheme for spectorators the premium for which is to be paid by the organisers,” the governor added.
