Kolkata: Three days after the Salt Lake Stadium fiasco during Lionel Messi’s first leg of the GOAT tour of India, West Bengal Sports minister Aroop Biswas submitted his resignation.
In a handwritten letter to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Biswas asked to be relieved of the responsibility to ensure an impartial probe into the chaotic mess at the stadium on Saturday morning.
According to Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, Mamata has accepted Biswas’ request.
The government also cracked down on senior police officers and other government functionaries involved with the December 13 Messi event.
The state’s top cop DGP Rajeev Kumar, Bidhannagar police commissioner Mukesh Kumar and Principal secretary (Sports) Rajesh Kumar Sinha were issued showcause notices.
Bidhannagar deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Aneesh Sarkar was suspended, and Salt Lake Stadium CEO Debkumar Nandan has been removed.
On that forgettable morning, celebrities, sports officials and politicians like Biswas surrounded Messi as soon as the Argentine living legend entered the stadium, seeking to get autographs and click selfies with him. So much so that most of the 60,000 spectators, who had paid anything between Rs 3,000 and Rs 12,000 to buy tickets for the event, could not even catch a glimpse of Messi.
With dozens of people getting too close to the football superstar, and securitymen and police personnel failing to move them away, Messi’s team left the stadium after around 20 minutes instead of the hour and a half they were supposed to be there.
Soon, spectators gave vent to their frustration and anger, throwing bottles, removing bucket seats and hurling them to the ground, setting part of the stands and specially set-up tents on fire.
The chief minister, who could not reach the stadium because of the violent response of the fans, was so upset that she issued a public apology for the utter mismanagement and announced an inquiry panel headed by a retired judge.
Police arrested main event organiser Satadru Biswas from the airport even as he was trying to join Messi’s team on their journey to Hyderabad.
But there were calls for action against Biswas and police top brass.
On Tuesday, a government order issued said the DGP had to clarify “why such mismanagement and lapses happened in the stadium on that day and why proper coordination with concerned stakeholders, including the private organiser, was not carried out so as to ensure smooth conduct of the event,” reported HT.
Tuesday’s action came after the three-member inquiry committee, headed by retired Calcutta High Court judge Asim Kumar Roy, submitted its preliminary report.
Acting on the committee’s recommendation, the state government has formed a special investigation team (SIT) of four senior police officers, including Director, Security, Peeyush Pandey, to conduct a thorough investigation into the December 13 chaos.
