West Bengal Police on Thursday questioned former Sports Minister Arup Biswas for nearly three hours in connection with the chaos witnessed during Lionel Messi’s December 2025 tour of India.
“Biswas was summoned three times earlier but did not appear before investigators. He was asked to appear again on June 22,” said a police officer, requesting anonymity.
Biswas, who has evaded the media since the defeat of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the 2026 Assembly elections, said he would not say anything as the matter is subservient to the judiciary. “I will appear before the police as many times as they want and cooperate with the investigation. Let the truth come out in court.”
Satadru Dutta, the organizer of the Messi event, filed a police complaint on June 1 against Biswas, TMC councilor Joy Biswas and former police chief Rajeev Kumar, accusing them of sabotaging the event.
The December 13 event ended in chaos. Most fans bought tickets at prices ranging between $4500 and $18,000, but the event lasted barely 22 minutes. They could not see Argentine footballer Messi while Arup Biswas, his assistants and relatives surrounded him. Mamata Banerjee, the then Prime Minister, apologized for the fiasco and sacked Biswas, who has since lost his seat in Parliament.
Dutta alleged that Arup Biswas took a few thousand free tickets for the show and sold them. “I am confident that the police will question him and get to the bottom of the matter,” said Dutta, who was arrested after the event.
Arup Biswas was the TMC treasurer until June 5, when the party replaced him and informed the bank, where he maintains his main account. He wrote to the bank on June 12, saying the account should be frozen. The issue was leaked on Thursday. “This is an internal matter of the party. I will not say anything,” Arup Biswas said.
Swaroop Biswas, Arup Biswas’s brother, was arrested on June 4 on charges of extortion and criminal intimidation. Biswas was the foreman of film technicians in eastern India at the time of his arrest. A film technician alleged that Arup Biswas took money promising her work but threatened her and made inappropriate offers.
