West Bengal Sports Minister resigns over Messi row:CM accepts Biswas resignation, Mamata to oversee Sports Youth Affairs, DC Bidhannagar suspended, action against four IPS officers

West Bengal Sports Minister Aroop Biswas has submitted his resignation to CM Mamata Banerjee over the chaos that erupted during football icon Lionel Messi’s appearance at the Salt Lake stadium on December 13. He has written a letter to the CM seeking separation from the post. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accepted the resignation of Aroop Biswas from the post of Sports Minister following recent developments linked to the Yuva Bharati Krirangan incident. The Chief Minister has decided to retain the Sports and Youth Welfare Department under her own charge for the time being. Chief Minister accepts Aroop Biswas’s resignation According to sources in the state government, the Sports Department will not be assigned to any other minister at present. Mamata Banerjee will herself oversee the functioning of both the Sports and Youth Welfare departments until further notice.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal government has initiated strict disciplinary action against senior police and administrative officials following serious lapses, negligence, and incidents of vandalism. Aroop Biswas seeks resignation, writes letter to CM Sports Minister Aroop Biswas seeks resignation after Yuva Bharati incident, writes to Chief Minister requesting relief. Negligence and vandalism trigger disciplinary action The letter issued by the Office of the Chief Secretary, a preliminary enquiry found major failures in crowd management, coordination with organisers, and preventive policing, leading to disorder and damage at the state’s premier stadium. The findings prompted immediate action against officials responsible for law and order arrangements at the venue. CP Bidhannagar asked to explain lapses Bidhannagar Police Commissioner Mukesh Kumar has been served a show-cause notice and asked to submit an explanation within 24 hours over the lapses in supervision and coordination during the event. Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar has also been show-caused in connection with the overall management failure. DC Bidhannagar suspended for duty failure In a significant move, Aneesh Sarkar, IPS, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bidhannagar, has been placed under immediate suspension for negligence of duty. Departmental proceedings have been initiated against him for failing to prevent vandalism and ensure adequate crowd control at the stadium despite the scale and sensitivity of the event. Senior officials face administrative consequences Administrative action has also followed, with the Principal Secretary of the Youth Affairs and Sports Department, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, being issued a show-cause notice. The services of Deb Kumar Nandan, CEO of VYBK, have been withdrawn with immediate effect, holding the stadium management accountable for the breakdown in arrangements. High level SIT to probe incident The government has constituted a Special Investigation Team to conduct a detailed probe into the incident and fix responsibility. The SIT comprises senior IPS officers Piyush Pandey, Javed Shamim, Supratim Sarkar, and Muralidhar. The preliminary report, submitted on December 15, pointed to a lack of coordination with stakeholders and private organisers, inadequate policing, and failure to anticipate crowd behaviour during the Messi-related programme, resulting in chaos and vandalism inside the stadium.