Kolkata: Former West Bengal minister Aroop Biswas appeared before the Bidhannagar Police on Monday for the second time in connection with the probe into alleged irregularities surrounding an event featuring Argentine football star Lionel Messi.
Biswas had earlier skipped three summonses before appearing for questioning for the first time on Thursday.
The case stems from a complaint lodged by event organiser Shatadru Dutta, who accused Biswas of ticket black-marketing, extortion, cheating and criminal intimidation in connection with the high-profile football event held at Salt Lake Stadium on December 13 last year.
An FIR was registered on May 17 under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including cheating, extortion and criminal intimidation.
Dutta has alleged that nearly 22,000 tickets for the event were sold in the black market and claimed that Biswas used his position as sports minister to exert undue influence over the programme.
The event had ended with sections of spectators allegedly vandalising parts of the stadium, claiming that they failed to catch a glimpse of Messi despite paying thousands of rupees for a ticket as influential people kept him surrounded on the ground.
Dutta was arrested in connection with the case and spent 37 days in custody before securing bail. After his release, he repeatedly accused Biswas of being responsible for the event's failure and the financial losses suffered by the organisers.
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Newly-appointed Sports Minister Indranil Khan has also recently alleged serious mismanagement during the Messi event and claimed the episode had embarrassed football fans in West Bengal.
