A West Bengal court on Sunday extended Satadru Dutta’s police arrest until January 9, the key organiser of Argentine footballer Lionel Messi’s event, which descended into chaos earlier this month. Following his first police custody, Dutta was brought before the Bidhannagar Sub-Divisional Court, where public prosecutors filed various allegations against him.
Dutta was detained on December 13 for alleged mismanagement at the Salt Lake stadium event. He was also accused of getting into contracts with food and beverage vendors without government approval and alleged corruption of ₹23 crore. The prosecution emphasized Dutta’s tremendous influence and argued that he should not be allowed bail.
“The investigation involves a deeper look into the financial transactions and event planning. His bail application was denied, and he was taken into police custody until January 9,” a senior police officer informed reporters outside the court.
Dutta was observed entering the courtroom with a copy of the Gita. His bail application, filed by his counsel, was contested by the prosecution, which described the incident as pre-planned and said that Dutta was the primary culprit behind the alleged mismanagement.
The police informed the court that a contract for delivering food and beverages at the stadium had been signed even before conversations with the administration about plans for Messi’s performance. The police claim Dutta received ₹60 lakh in cash, despite the stated food and beverage contract value of ₹40 lakh. Over 34,000 tickets were sold for the event, totaling approximately ₹19 crore.
The police told the court that Messi fled the field within 20 minutes of the start time, saying that this was also part of a predetermined sequence. The police further stated that, while professional sports event management businesses were hired for Messi events in three other locations, no such organization was hired for the Kolkata programme, a move that has now been called into question.
What was supposed to be a blockbuster football extravaganza devolved into widespread violence and chaos at the stadium on December 13 after Messi’s brief and closely controlled presence, his first at the venue since 2011, left significant parts of the audience dissatisfied. Angry fans, who had spent ₹4,000 to ₹12,000 — and in some cases up to ₹20,000 on the black market — ran riot at the site after failing to see their favourite celebrity from Argentina.
