Kolkata, Dec 16 : The West Bengal government on Tuesday issued show-cause notices to senior police officers, including the DGP, over alleged mismanagement during the Lionel Messi event at the Salt Lake stadium last week.
The state government also suspended Bidhannagar Deputy Police Commissioner Aneesh Sarkar, a statement from Chief Secretary Manoj Pant’s office said.
The actions were taken following the recommendations of the probe panel constituted to investigate the alleged mismanagement during the December 13 event at the Salt Lake football stadium.
The show-cause notice to DGP Rajeev Kumar sought an explanation over the lapses reported at the venue and set a deadline of 24 hours to reply, the statement said.
Bidhannagar Police Commissioner Mukesh Kumar was also served a similar show-cause notice and asked to clarify the role and conduct of the commissionerate in the management of the event, which had led to large-scale chaos and vandalism by spectators within the stadium premises on Saturday.
The state government suspended the Bidhannagar deputy commissioner and initiated departmental proceedings against him for reported negligence of duty on the day of the event, the statement said.
Youth Affairs and Sports Department Principal Secretary 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over the alleged lapses, while the services of Salt Lake stadium Chief Executive Officer Deb Kumar Nandan were withdrawn with immediate effect.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 stadium chaos which forced the short-termination of the event.
The disruption led the football superstar to leave the venue early while the vandalism caused an estimated damage of nearly Rs 2 crore.
Earlier in the day, Justice Roy said the probe panel report raised serious questions over the violation of standard operating procedures, particularly the presence of water bottles inside the stadium.
Water bottles had been thrown from the gallery of the stadium during the chaos.
“As per existing rules, spectators are not permitted to carry water bottles. It is highly unusual that water bottle stalls were set up inside the stadium (on the occasion of the event). This deviation from established norms needs close examination,” Justice Roy told reporters.
The committee recommended departmental action against agencies in charge of stadium operations and management, noting that responsibility could not be fixed without identifying specific lapses by officials and agencies on duty.
It also suggested that the issue of ticket refunds be examined in view of the disruption faced by spectators.
The main organiser of the event, Shatadru Dutta, was arrested on December 13. The police later picked up five others in connection with the vandalism.
Police said several individuals and representatives of agencies involved in selling tickets and supplying drinking water were summoned for questioning as part of the ongoing investigation. (PTI)
