A fresh summons was issued to Trinamool Congress leader and former sports minister Aroop Biswas, directing him to appear before the Bidhannagar City Police on Monday in connection with the Messi-related controversy.
Biswas had earlier sought 14 days to appear for questioning, citing medical reasons. However, police declined to accept the request, saying it was not supported by any doctor’s prescription or medical documents.
A team of officers from New Alipore police station went to his Durgapur Colony residence on Sunday to serve him the fresh summons issued by the Bidhannagar police on Saturday.
However, as Aroop Biswas was not at home, the police pasted the summons on the wall of his house. The summons asked him to appear before the police at 11am on Monday with his identity proof.
The summons mentioned: “…that there are reasonable grounds to question you to ascertain facts and circumstances from you, in relation to the present investigation. In this regard, you were also directed to appear before the undersigned 04.06.2026. But you did not attend still now. You submitted an intimation seeking time on medical ground without any doctor’s prescription. Hence, you are further directed to appear before me on 08.06.2026 at 11:00 hrs at Bidhannagar South PS at above noted address along with your photo identity proof.”
The former minister has been charged under non-bailable sections of cheating, extortion, criminal intimidation, criminal conspiracy and common intention.
Earlier this month, he had submitted a prayer for anticipatory bail before the Barasat court, apprehending arrest. The hearing on the matter is pending.
The move to pray for the anticipatory bail came two days after Bidhannagar City Police turned event organiser Satadru Dutta’s complaint into an FIR and named Biswas as the prime suspect.
Sources in the state home department said the complaint that was lodged on May 19 with Bidhannagar (south) police station was turned into an FIR on May 30 after Dutta met senior officials of the state government.
Police source said the preliminary investigation has revealed that during organising the programme, Dutta was “severely threatened and extorted by the then sports minister Aroop Biswas, who demanded a huge amount of complementary tickets/accreditation cards from him and threatened him that without fulfilling his demand, he would not be able to organise the programme.”
Biswas, according to the police investigation, “forcefully took around 22,000 complimentary tickets from the complainant and later which were sold in the black market”.
