Messi tour organiser denied bail, remanded to 14 days’ police custody over Kolkata stadium vandalism

KOLKATA: Sports promoter and organiser Shatadru Dutta, who had prominently claimed that bringing G.O.A.T Lionel Messi to India was his initiative, was denied bail and remanded to 14 days of police custody on Sunday.Shatadru was arrested by West Bengal Police on Saturday afternoon while he was attempting to board the chartered flight carrying the Argentine football star to Hyderabad.An FIR was filed against him on Saturday at the Bidhannagar South Police Station following suo motu cases initiated by the Bidhannagar police, under whose jurisdiction the stadium falls.Police framed charges including provocation with intent to cause a riot, mischief leading to wilful damage of property at the stadium complex, and serious offences involving injuries, disruption of water supply, and use of fire or explosives.On Sunday, police produced the accused before the Bidhannagar sub-divisional court, seeking police custody. Heavy security arrangements were made to prevent any untoward incident.Tension mounted outside the court as people shouted slogans of “chor, chor” and threw sandals at Shatadru when he was taken out of the prison van and escorted into the court complex.Shatadru’s lawyer told the court that his client was not responsible for the chaos inside Salt Lake Stadium during Messi’s G.O.A.T India Tour event and sought bail.Rejecting the bail plea, the court remanded him to police custody. The state government pleader opposed bail and sought custody to enable a proper inquiry, including probing whether others were involved in Saturday’s vandalism at the stadium.Shatadru’s arrest came hours after the West Bengal Chief Minister announced on social media that an inquiry committee, chaired by Justice Asim Kumar Roy, a retired judge of the Calcutta High Court, had been formed to investigate the incident at Salt Lake Stadium, which left thousands of fans furious over alleged mismanagement by the organiser and the administration.



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