Kolkata, 15 Dec

Alleging indiscriminate and hurtful trolling of Tollywood actress Subhashree Ganguly over social media for posting her photograph with football legend Lionel Messi, her husband and filmmaker Raj Chakraborty lodged a police complaint against a group of netizens for unfairly and abusively targeting his wife, police said on Monday.

A case was started on the basis of Chakraborty's complaint at the Titagarh police station in North 24 Parganas district, they added.

Ganguly, who represented the Bengali film industry, was present at the meet-and-greet event with the Argentine football icon at a seven-star property in the city prior to his appearance at the Salt Lake stadium and was also seen seated at the makeshift VIP canopy constructed on the ground.

A section of social media users took exception to the actress posting her photographs with LM10 on her social media handles, who questioned her presence at the event, which was marred by widespread chaos and vandalism after spectators failed to catch a proper glimpse of their hero, alleging gross mismanagement by the organisers and obstruction of views by VIPs.

"The chaos at Yuva Bharati Krirangan yesterday was completely uncalled for and truly painful. It was an insult to football and to football-loving Bengalis... Despite being aware of similar past incidents, how did such a major lapse in planning and structural preparedness occur for an event of this scale? Were the organisers unaware of Messi's popularity? I sincerely hope those responsible are held accountable," Chakraborty wrote in a Facebook post.

Chakraborty, also a TMC MLA, acknowledged the presence of his wife at the event and went on to add, "To certain political leaders who are making comments without being present before or after the incident, asking, Why did a film actress need to be there? I would like to ask: how well do you really know Shubhashree Ganguly? Does being an actress disqualify her from being a Messi fan?"

The filmmaker harped on a person's multiple identities, which are shaped by gender, profession, and relationships.

"Similarly, Shubhashree is a mother, sometimes a sister, sometimes a wife, sometimes an actress, sometimes a friend, and sometimes simply a fan. Above all, she is a human being. Yet, crossing all boundaries of basic humanity, political leaders and a section of the media are targeting actress Shubhashree Ganguly by creating memes, trolling her, and building an alternate narrative," he alleged.