Kolkata: At the same time as a district court docket on Sunday remanded Satadru Dutta, the organiser of Lionel Messi’s West Bengal tour, in police custody for two weeks, the direct’s ruling Trinamool Congress and opposition Bharatiya Janata Celebration blamed every varied for Saturday’s rampage at Kolkata’s Salt Lake stadium by a section of spectators who purchased tickets to peek the Argentine football star but flared up when he left in a bustle thanks to alleged mismanagement.
TMC direct customary secretary Kunal Ghosh pointed at photos and movies of one of the most spectators carrying saffron flags and raising the Jai Sri Ram slogan all around the vandalism that triggered police to disperse the team.
Plenty of the spectators in the 50,000-obtain 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 excessive court docket mediate Asim Kumar Roy.
Accusing BJP of making an strive to defame the ruling occasion in the bustle-as a lot as the 2026 meeting polls, Ghosh also shared a picture of BJP legislator and passe Indian cricketer Ashok Dinda on the grounds.
“What became Dinda, an MLA known to be shut to the direct legislative meeting’s chief of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari doing at Salt Lake stadium? Why had been some folk carrying saffron flags and raising the Jai Sri Ram slogan? Did Messi with regards to assist a BJP tournament?” Ghosh acknowledged.
“The police would per chance light probe into this,” he added.
Addressing a press conference, Adhikari acknowledged no longer handiest Dinda but all BJP MLAs, including him, got invitation playing cards by the organisers but handiest the passe cricketer went to the stadium.
“Having cheated hundreds of Messi followers, TMC is making an strive to divert consideration from sports minister Aroop Biswas and fireplace products and companies minister Sujit Bose who surrounded Messi with individuals of their households to grab selfies. Some individuals of the executive minister’s household had been also there. Folks who purchased tickets would per chance no longer even peek Messi due to this,” Adhikari acknowledged, displaying photos of the oldsters he talked about.
HT would per chance no longer independently examine the authenticity of the photos and movies that had been circulated.
“Biswas and Bose would per chance light be sacked from the federal government and arrested. They made money from the tournament,” Adhikari added.
While Sujit Bose didn’t take a look at with the media, Biswas acknowledged: “I will no longer comment due to the 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 authorized first rate Dyutimoy Bhattarcharya claimed that his client became innocent.
“My client became no longer thinking about managing the tournament inner the stadium. He purchased Messi for an interaction with little teenagers. He’s being framed,” Bhattacharya acknowledged.
Messi’s worthy-anticipated take a look at with to the stadium, as half of the “GOAT (most titillating of all time) tour”, lasted barely 22 minutes. The tour, which contains a collection of promotional events holding Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi, began with Messi as regards to unveiling a 70ft statue of himself attributable to security concerns. Rapidly after this, he left for the Salt Lake Stadium, the build hundreds of followers had been waiting since around 4 am.
Basically based fully on folk familiar with the subject, the first indicators of inconvenience surfaced around quarter-hour after Messi and his Inter Miami teammates, Luis Suárez and Rodrigo de Paul, arrived on the stadium around 11.30 am.
Within minutes, Messi stumbled on himself surrounded by politicians, police, VIPs and their entourages who fashioned a wall that left spectators with a examine of every little thing but the person they came to peek. “We ought to peek Messi,” the followers shouted frantically from the stands.
Allegations had been raised on social media on Sunday that portions worthy elevated than the worth of the most costly tickets had been taken from some folk in opposition to promises that they’d snatch selfies with Messi and bottles of branded purified water had been sold inner the stadium in violation of security rules.
In a video, the authenticity of which is perhaps no longer verified by HT, a vendor became purportedly viewed selling a bottle of water having a stamp of ₹20 for ₹200 even though Bidhan Nagar’s deputy commissioner of police Anish Sarkar urged the media on December 12 that water bottles and inflammable materials would no longer be allowed inner the stadium.
On Saturday, the team hurled these water bottles on the police and even tried to do some property on fireplace. The nets from the perform posts and chairs in 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.
“Plenty of events had been lined up but the organisers would per chance no longer assist these thanks to mismanagement. We accept as true with started two conditions. More folk will seemingly be summoned and questioned. The sale of bottled water is also being probed,” Kumar acknowledged.
Justice (retired) Asim Kumar Roy refused to touch upon the findings all over Sunday’s take a look at with to the stadium.
“We accept as true with taken notes. My document will reflect on several aspects, including measures to be taken before events cherish these,” he urged the media.
Dispute chief secretary Manoj Pant, a member of the committee, acknowledged: “We had been urged to file a document in 15 days with our findings and proposals. Or no longer it’s mandatory to assist for that.”
The governor, who tried to enter the stadium on Saturday after the incident but failed due to the the gates had been closed, acknowledged he’ll post a document to the Centre.
“I will derive several solutions, the major among which is a judicial inquiry into this incident, arrest of all organisers and no longer sexy one, refund of the cash taken from the spectators and freezing of the organiser’s monetary institution account, “ he acknowledged.
“I would per chance even imply a identical old working route of (SOP) for events cherish these and an insurance blueprint for spectorators the highest rate for which is to be paid by the organisers,” the governor added.
