Satadru Datta, the prime organiser of the Lionel Messi football event at Salt Lake Stadium, being brought to Bidhannagar court, in Kolkata, on December 14, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Satadru Dutta, organiser of the Lionel Messi event at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata a day earlier, was on Sunday (December 14, 2025) produced before a court here, which remanded him to 14 days of police custody.
Mr. Dutta was arrested by the Bidhannagar City Police on Saturday (December 13, 2025), hours after football fans vandalised the stadium following Mr. Messi’s exit from the venue. Fans were upset that despite buying tickets at a high price, they were unable to catch a glimpse of Mr. Messi, as organisers surrounded the football legend. When Mr. Dutta was produced in the court, some locals raised slogans calling him a “thief”.
Meanwhile, members of the inquiry committee set up by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to probe the factors that led to the vandalism, including the State’s Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, Home Secretary Nandini Chakraborty and Chairperson of the committee Justice (retd) Asim Kumar Roy, visited the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday (December 14, 2025).
After visiting the stadium, the members of the committee held a meeting.
Justice Roy told presspersons: “Don’t make any assumptions now. We are actively investigating all aspects. We have taken notes of everything we saw. Our report will mention everything.” Asked who was responsible for the chaos at the stadium, Justice Roy said, “At the moment, the investigation is in the initial stage. Therefore, I cannot say anything right now.”
Mr. Pant said the inquiry committee looked into the condition of the stadium on the first day of investigation. “We will go into more aspects and speak to everyone concerned. All procedures of conducting an inquiry will be complied with,” Mr. Pant added.
West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose also visited the stadium. The Governor had tried to visit the venue on Saturday (December 13, 2025) but was denied entry. Speaking to presspersons, the Governor said the events on Saturday (December 13, 2025) should be an eye-opener for everyone. “I will also be submitting my report to the Government of India,” the Governor said. Dr. Bose said that he was not invited to the event by the organisers.
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari later addressed a press conference and said that the State’s Sports Minister Aroop Biswas and Fire Minister Sujit Bose should not only be suspended, but also arrested for the fiasco.
Mr. Adhikari said the first information report (FIR) lodged in the case provides an escape route to the accused. He pointed out that the FIR was “full of mistakes” and Mr. Dutta was named as the sole accused. “This FIR has been lodged to save Ministers and others within the Trinamool,” the BJP leader said, adding that the investigation in the case should be taken away from the State police.
Published – December 14, 2025 02:45 pm IST
