Ex-Bengal Minister Aroop Biswas Grilled By Bidhannagar Police in Messi Event Irregularities Probe

Biswas arrived at the Bidhannagar South Police Station around 9.55 am, after skipping two previous summonses and in delayed compliance with the third. His appearance was in the aftermath of a Calcutta High Court order granting him conditional immunity from coercive police action.

The TMC leader was seen leaving the police station premises around 1.15 pm in a vehicle sporting dark tinted glasses.

Biswas has been asked to reappear before the investigators on June 22, during which he was directed to carry relevant documents pertaining to the case, sources at the Bidhannagar police commissionerate said.

The case stems from a complaint lodged by event organiser Shatadru Dutta, who accused Biswas of ticket black-marketing, extortion, cheating and criminal intimidation in connection with the high-profile football event held at Salt Lake Stadium here on December 13 last year, featuring Messi and two other Argentine football superstars, Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul.

The event had ended with large sections of spectators indulging in violent stadium ruckus and vandalism, after alleging they failed to catch a glimpse of Messi despite paying hefty amounts for gallery tickets, as influential people kept him surrounded on the ground.

An FIR against Biswas was registered on May 17 under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including cheating, extortion and criminal intimidation.

Dutta, who was arrested after the stadium fiasco on grounds of event mismanagement and spent 37 days in jail, has alleged that nearly 22,000 tickets for the event were sold in the black market.

He claimed that Biswas used his position as sports minister to exert undue influence over the programme and violated on-pitch protocols.

Biswas has denied any wrongdoing and maintained that he was not involved in the financial aspects of the programme.

On June 5, the former minister had written to Bidhannagar Dakshin police station seeking two weeks' time to appear, citing health reasons.

Meanwhile, Dutta who organised Messi’s India tour, claimed on Wednesday that the football legend’s communication team has written to the Bidhannagar police, holding Biswas responsible for the stadium violence.

The communication purportedly exonerated Dutta from charges of mismanagement for which he was arrested and jailed during the erstwhile TMC regime.

The Bidhannagar Police, recipients of the reported communication, however, remained tight-lipped about the development.