Kolkata, Dec 16: The West Bengal Police on Monday issued summons to officials of six companies involved in organising the Lionel Messi event at the Salt Lake Stadium, where large-scale chaos and vandalism were reported two days ago, alleging “gross mismanagement”, a senior officer said.
The action follows the registration of an FIR over the spectator rampage, which caused damage to stadium property estimated at over ₹2 crore. Police have so far arrested five spectators on charges of vandalism and assault on police personnel.
Among those served notices is Laltu Das, manager of Satadru Datta, the prime organiser of the marquee event who was arrested on Saturday. Summonses were also issued by the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate to event manager Manali Bhattacharya, Supriya Dasgupta, Sambaran Karmakar, Aditya Das, and Amit Kumar, a senior official of a food delivery aggregator.
All six officials were involved in managing the event in different capacities and have been asked to appear for questioning at the commissionerate office on Tuesday, the officer said.
Sources said Laltu Das, who had represented organiser Satadru Datta at a meeting with senior police officials a day before the December 13 programme to discuss standard operating procedures, will be questioned for allegedly violating prescribed dos and don’ts.
Police are also probing responsibility for allowing unauthorised food and beverage sales inside the stadium. Containers from these stalls were allegedly used as missiles by sections of the crowd during the violence.
Meanwhile, Bidhannagar Police said the five arrested spectators were identified through video footage. They have been booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita for destruction of public property, obstructing public servants in the discharge of duty, and assault on uniformed personnel.
Efforts are underway to identify and book other individuals involved in the vandalism and violence, the officer added. With the latest arrests, the total number of people held in connection with the incident has risen to six.
