Kolkata, 16 Dec

The West Bengal government on Tuesday initiated a series of punitive and corrective measures following widespread spectator violence and alleged mismanagement at a marquee football event featuring Argentine legend Lionel Messi at the Salt Lake Stadium, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accepting the resignation of Sports Minister Aroop Biswas and ordering action against senior officials.

Two days after the chaos that forced the premature termination of the event, Banerjee accepted Biswas’s resignation from the sports portfolio. In his resignation letter dated December 15 and written on blank paper, Biswas sought to be relieved from the department to ensure an “impartial inquiry” into the incident. The letter was shared on social media by Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh.

The chief minister said she “appreciated the sentiment and intention of the sports minister” and announced that she would personally oversee the sports department until the inquiry is completed. Biswas, who also holds charge of the youth welfare and power departments, has sought relief only from the sports portfolio and continues to remain a member of the state cabinet.

Acting on the recommendations of a three-member inquiry committee headed by retired Justice Ashim Kumar Roy, the state government issued show-cause notices to Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar and Bidhannagar Police Commissioner Mukesh Kumar, seeking explanations for lapses in crowd and event management. Both officers have been asked to respond within 24 hours.

The government also suspended Bidhannagar Deputy Commissioner Aneesh Sarkar and initiated departmental proceedings against him for alleged negligence of duty. Youth Affairs and Sports Department Principal Secretary Rajesh Kumar Sinha was similarly show-caused, while the services of Salt Lake Stadium Chief Executive Officer Deb Kumar Nandan were withdrawn with immediate effect, according to a statement from Chief Secretary Manoj Pant’s office.

Further, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising four senior IPS officers, Piyush Pandey, Javed Shamim, Supratim Sarkar and Muralidhar, has been constituted to conduct a comprehensive probe into the incident.

The controversy has triggered sharp political reactions. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari dismissed Biswas’s resignation as a “hogwash”, alleging it was aimed at deflecting attention from public interest litigations likely to be heard by the Calcutta High Court later this week.

"I have confirmed information from organiser Shatadru Dutta's team that Biswas had collected 22,000 tickets for the event which he not only distributed among his followers, but also sold in the grey market at premium prices. There is a concrete money trail for this scam which must be probed," Adhikari alleged.

Governor C V Ananda Bose, who inspected the stadium a day after the rampage, said he had reached his own conclusions after interacting with the inquiry panel and the public.

"After visiting the stadium and informally interacting with the enquiry commission, I arrived at my own assessment of the situation. There have been strong public demands that the sports minister, who was present at the spot on that fateful day, should resign," Bose said.

"It was advised that the sports minister and those responsible candidly should admit their vicarious liability in the matter and resign. The inquiry has to establish accountability for those who committed lapses in the case," he added.

The violence erupted after Messi exited the field early on December 13, triggering vandalism that caused damage estimated at around Rs 2 crore. Police have arrested prime organiser Shatadru Dutta and five spectators in connection with the incident, as the government moves to demonstrate accountability amid mounting public and political pressure.