Rohit Kumar
NEW DELHI, Dec 16: Heads have started rolling in Kolkata for messing up the Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi’s appearance at the Salt Lake stadium leaving the football fans furious indulging in vandalism to protest against officials’ crowding over the iconic footballer keeping him out of the glimpse of his fans on Saturday.
Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal minister Aroop Biswas, who was under fire for the chaos at the stadium when Messi made a brief appearance, submitted his resignation to the chief minister Mamata Banerjee to ensure an impartial investigation into the fiasco. According to sources, Biswas wrote to Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief, yesterday, offering to step down as the state’s minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, Power and Non-Conventional Energy, and Housing.
“Didi, do take my respects. On December 13, 2025, global footballer Messi came to Vivekananda Yuva Bharti Krirangan and there was a situation. You have already formed a probe committee. For an impartial probe, I want to be relieved as the sports minister of West Bengal. I would like you to please accept my request,” Biswas reportedly wrote in the letter addressed to Banerjee. The sources have said the resignation has not been accepted, but Biswas will not function as the sports minister for now, as a probe is underway. For the time being, Mamata Banerjee has taken charge of the sports portfolio.
A statement from Mamata Banerjee’s office said she appreciates the “sentiment and intention” of the sports minister. “I think he is very much correct and until and unless the impartial inquiry is over, the Sports Department will be looked after by me for the time being,” the Chief Minister’s Office said.
Acting on recommendations of the probe panel constituted to investigate alleged mismanagement at the stadium, the West Bengal government also issued a show-cause notice on Tuesday to DGP Rajeev Kumar, seeking explanation over the lapses reported at the venue and set a deadline of 24 hours to reply, a statement issued by the office of the Chief Secretary Manoj Pant said.
Additionally, Bidhannagar Police Commissioner Mukesh Kumar was also served a similar show-cause notice and asked to clarify the role and conduct of the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate in the management of the event. The State Government suspended Bidhannagar Deputy Commissioner of Police Aneesh Sarkar and initiated departmental proceedings against him for reported negligence of duty on the day of the event, the statement said.
Principal Secretary of the Youth Affairs and Sports Department Rajesh Kumar Sinha has also been show-caused over the alleged lapses, while the services of Salt Lake Stadium Chief Executive Officer Deb Kumar Nandan were withdrawn with immediate effect.
As per recommendations of the three-member probe committee headed by retired Justice Ashim Kumar Roy, the state constituted a Special Investigation Team comprising four senior IPS officers—Piyush Pandey, Javed Shamim, Supratim Sarkar and Muralidhar—to conduct a thorough probe into the incident, which forced short-termination of the marque football event, led the football superstar to leave the venue early and caused an estimated stadium damage of nearly ₹2 crore.
The West Bengal Police on Monday had sent summons to officials of six organisations, which were in charge of managing various aspects of Messi’s visit to the stadium. Acting on an FIR on the spectator rampage police have also arrested five people so far on charges of vandalism and assault on police personnel.
Among the notices which were served to the event organizers included those to Laltu Das, manager of Satadru Datta – the now arrested prime organizer of the event, police said. Summonses were also dispatched by the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate to Manali Bhattacharya, an event manager, Supriya Dasgupta, Sambaran Karmakar, Aditya Das and Amit Kumar, a senior official of a food delivery aggregator.
All six officials, police said, were involved in managing the marquee event at the stadium in their respective capacities. They have been asked to be present for questioning at the commissionerate office on Tuesday, the police officer added.
Sources said Das, who represented organizer Satadru Datta at a meeting with senior police officials, where the standard operating procedures were discussed threadbare a day prior to the December 13 programme, will be questioned for allegedly violating the dos and don’ts while organizing the event. The police are also trying to pinpoint accountability for allowing unauthorized food and beverage sales inside the stadium, the containers of which were later used as missiles by the irate crowd during the rampage.
The West Bengal government has, meanwhile, formed a Special Investigation Team comprising three IPS officers to probe the chaos at the Salt Lake stadium on Saturday. Aroop Biswas, a trusted lieutenant of Mamata Banerjee and often seen with her in public events, made headlines in the aftermath of the Messi event fiasco. Football supporters from across Bengal had spent thousands on tickets to the Salt Lake stadium event to catch a glimpse of the football legend. But during the 30-minute appearance, Messi was surrounded by VIPs such as ministers and sports administrators. This upset the fans who went on the rampage as soon as Messi left the ground.
Many of these angry fans slammed Aroop Biswas and accused him of clinging to Messi and getting his family members to click pictures with the football legend, while fans who had paid thousands struggled to get a glimpse of him. Some also said that they went to the event to see Messi, but only saw Aroop Biswas.
The events during the Messi event in Kolkata, often called the Mecca of Indian football, left the state government red-faced, despite it being a private event. Chief Minister Banerjee said she was “deeply disturbed and shocked by the mismanagement.” “I was on my way to the stadium to attend the event along with thousands of sports lovers and fans who had gathered to catch a glimpse of their favorite footballer, Lionel Messi. I sincerely apologize to Lionel Messi, as well as to all sports lovers and his fans, for the unfortunate incident,” she said.
The BJP said the Bengal government’s action was “too little, too late.” “That is what can be said about Mamata Banerjee taking the resignation of Aroop Biswas and now holding the charge of Sports Ministry. The entire world saw, the entire nation saw what a global embarrassment was caused, thanks to TMC, which made the entire Messi gala into a messy affair,” BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said.
He said Bengal police comes under Mamata Banerjee’s control and she cannot be absolved from the responsibility of the fiasco. “There was corruption, and it was institutionalised corruption that took place. Fans were cheated. Till now, the fans have not got the money back. Arup Biswas was trying desperately to take his own selfies, but it was not just him. There were other ministers like Sujit Bose and we have also seen the manner in which he continues to be patronized by the TMC. They should arrest him. “They should take legal and penal action against all the corruption that was done. It is a crime that deserves no less than arrest, and Mamata Banerjee herself should be tendering her resignation for the global embarrassment she has caused,” he said.
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