Kolkata, Dec 20 (IANS) The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the chaos during football legend Lionel Messi’s event in Kolkata held last week, has prevented the transfer of ticket sales money from the Yuba Bharati Krirangan to the account of the main organiser Satadru Dutta.
At the same time, numerous documents related to Messi’s event have been recovered from Dutta’s house in Hooghly district’s Rishra, police sources said.
It is also reported that Rs 22 crore have been seized from Dutta’s bank account.
Dutta is currently in police custody following his arrest on December 13.
On Friday, SIT members raided Dutta’s Rishra residence.
During the search, several documents related to Messi’s event as well as those linked to several bank accounts were recovered.
According to sources, the police took action immediately after recovering the account-related documents.
SIT sources said that a total of Rs 22 crore from Dutta’s bank account have been seized.
It is also reported that the estimated value of the tickets sold at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan on the day of the incident was nearly Rs 20 crore.
The SIT is taking swift action so that this money does not reach Satadru Dutta’s bank account.
According to sources, the third-party intermediary company through which the tickets were sold has already received instructions from the police.
The third party company have been told not to transfer the ticket sales money to Satadru Dutta’s bank account under any circumstances.
This is because, initially, it is understood that the compensation for the Yuba Bharati incident will be paid from that money.
On the other hand, Satadru Dutta claimed that he is not responsible for the ruckus on the day the incident took place.
However, due to the excessive crowd at the stadium, Satadru Dutta could not perform his event as planned.
According to sources, Satadru Dutta has blamed the West Bengal government over the mismanagement that unfolded.
He has highlighted the interference of several influential individuals within the state government regarding the distribution of the football event passes.
Satadru Dutta claimed that this led to the excessive crowd.
While, a large section of the state government blamed the private organiser for the entire incident, Satadru Dutta, during police questioning, has instead put the blame on the state government.
On December 13, the Salt Lake Stadium was full long before Messi’s event began.
The spectators were waiting to see their favourite footballer.
As soon as Messi arrived, many people surrounded him, trying to take pictures.
Messi’s security guards were also there.
Overall, a chaotic situation prevailed.
The spectators complained that they couldn’t even see Messi.
Messi left the field within just 22 minutes, following which vandalism began at the stadium.
Chairs and bottles were thrown onto the field from the stands.
Many spectators broke down the gates and entered the stadium.
Vandalism occurred in the galleries and restrooms of the Yuva Bharati Krirangan.
Following this incident, the state government formed an investigation committee following which the event organiser Satadru Dutta was arrested.
On Tuesday, Aroop Biswas resigned as the West Bengal Sports Minister while top IPS officers, including Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar was issued a show cause notice.
–IANS
sch/khz