Police summon ex-Bengal sports minister in Messi event chaos case

Kolkata, Jun 6 (PTI): Former West Bengal sports minister Aroop Biswas has again been summoned by the police in connection with a case related to chaos at the Lionel Messi event at Salt Lake Stadium, after he failed to appear before the investigators by Frida.

Written By : PTI | Updated at : 07 Jun 2026 12:26 AM (IST)

Kolkata, Jun 6 (PTI): Former West Bengal sports minister Aroop Biswas has again been summoned by the police in connection with a case related to chaos at the Lionel Messi event at Salt Lake Stadium, after he failed to appear before the investigators by Friday.

The TMC leader, who had earlier cited health issues and stated that he was not in a position to attend the summons, has been asked to appear before the investigators on June 8.

"We have asked Aroop Biswas to appear before our officers on June 8. A notice has been served to him today," an officer of Bidhannagar Dakshin police station said.

He was asked to appear before investigators by Friday, after an FIR was lodged against him by the event organiser Shatadru Dutta, accusing the former minister of black-marketing tickets, extortion, criminal intimidation and cheating in connection with the high-profile football event in December, 2005.

The event at the Salt Lake Stadium on December 13, 2025, had descended into chaos after a large number of people entered the venue allegedly without valid access, leading to security breaches and crowd disorder.

Many spectators who had bought expensive tickets complained that they could neither properly see Messi nor enjoy the programme due to overcrowding and mismanagement.

Messi left the ground quickly amid the commotion, following which sections of angry spectators vandalised parts of the stadium.

The controversy had triggered a political storm at the time, with fingers being pointed at the then sports minister Aroop Biswas over alleged lapses in planning and crowd management.

Dutta was subsequently arrested by police and spent 37 days in custody before securing bail. Following his release, he blamed Biswas for the event’s collapse and the losses suffered by the organisers. PTI SCH RBT

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)