Kolkata, Jun 13: Police issued a fresh notice to former West Bengal sports minister Aroop Biswas on Saturday, asking him to appear before investigators within 48 hours for questioning in a case related to the chaos at the Lionel Messi event at Salt Lake Stadium in December.
Biswas had not complied with two notices sent by the Bidhannagar police earlier to appear before it for questioning in the case. He had sought time for appearance, citing personal reasons, sources said.
They said that officers served the third notice at the registered address of the former minister.
This came after the Calcutta High Court granted protection to Biswas from coercive action till August 17 and directed him to appear before the probe agency on a notice by it, which is to be served at least 48 hours prior.
The case stems from an FIR 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)
