Court‑Granted Interim Protection Lets Ex‑Minister Cooperate in Messi Event Probe

Kolkata – Ex‑minister Arup Biswas appeared before the Bidhannagar South Police Station on Tuesday, responding to a police notice served on Saturday. Accompanied by his lawyer, Biswas reached the station at roughly 10 a.m. to face questioning.

The questioning is linked to a FIR filed by Shatadruta Dutta, the chief organiser of Lionel Messi’s "Go India" tour stop at the Salt Lake Yuva Bharati Kendra on December 13, 2022. The FIR alleges that Biswas, then a serving minister, played a decisive role in the alleged disorder and ticket irregularities.

Biswas had previously ignored multiple summons and only surfaced before investigators after securing interim relief from the Calcutta High Court. The single‑bench order initially shielded him until July 2, enabling his attendance at the June 18 hearing without fear of arrest.

Dutta later contested the protection before the division bench, which declined to overturn the stay and subsequently extended it to August 17. This extension allows Biswas to stay out of custody while continuing to assist the investigating team.

According to Dutta’s statements, about 70,000 tickets were printed for the Messi event, with Biswas purportedly obtaining roughly 22,000 tickets by leveraging his official position and later distributing or selling them among his network. The former minister is thus implicated in both ticket misallocation and the mishandling of crowd control that led to the reported chaos.