Kolkata, 17 December (H.S.) :
Police have made one more arrest in connection with the vandalism that took place at Yuva Bharati Krirangan in Salt Lake during the visit of football star Lionel Messi. Bidhannagar South police arrested a youth identified as Rupak Mandal after he was spotted in CCTV footage from the stadium premises.
According to police sources, the accused is a resident of the Chingrighata area along the EM Bypass. With this arrest, the total number of people held so far in the violence and vandalism case has risen to six.
Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the state police to probe the incident visited Yuva Bharati Krirangan on Wednesday morning. Four senior police officers of the SIT inspected the stadium and assessed the situation on the ground. After the inspection, the team went to the office of the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate, where they stayed for some time before leaving.
The incident occurred on Saturday during Lionel Messi’s Kolkata visit, when chaos broke out inside the stadium following alleged mismanagement of the event. Despite purchasing high-priced tickets, many spectators were unable to get a proper glimpse of Messi, triggering anger among the crowd.
Sources said Messi, along with Luis Suárez and Rodrigo De Paul, remained on the field for only around 20 minutes and were surrounded by a large gathering, which also included state minister Aroop Biswas. Due to the crowding near the field, spectators seated in the galleries could not see the players clearly.
After the footballers left the stadium, the situation spiralled out of control. Angry spectators allegedly tore down hoardings, threw bottles and damaged chairs in the galleries. The unrest escalated further as fencing around the field was broken and a large number of people entered the ground from multiple directions.
Following the incident, Bidhannagar police registered a case on their own and launched an investigation. On Monday, five accused , Vasudev Das, Sanjay Das, Abhijit Das, Gaurav Bose and Shubhratim De, were arrested, all of whom were identified using CCTV footage.
Police have also arrested Shatadru Dutta, the main organiser of the Saturday programme, in connection with the mismanagement and subsequent violence at the Salt Lake Stadium.
Notably, on the instructions of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a high-level inquiry committee was formed to examine the Yuva Bharati incident. The committee, comprising the state Chief Secretary and Home Secretary and headed by retired judge Asim Kumar Ray, submitted its preliminary report on Monday night, recommending the formation of a Special Investigation Team.
Acting on the recommendation, the state police on Tuesday constituted a four-member SIT comprising ADG Piyush Pandey, Barrackpore Police Commissioner Muraleedhar, ADG Law and Order Javed Shamim, and ADG South Bengal Supratim Sarkar.
Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh
