Five men were taken into custody on Monday for their alleged role in the vandalism at the Salt Lake Stadium during Lionel Messi’s visit on Saturday.

One of them has been identified as someone who allegedly took a flower pot home from the stadium. The pot is on the seizure list drawn up by police officers.

Police said the arrests were made based on CCTV and video footage of the event. The arrested, the police said, were clearly seen vandalising the stadium.

Two of the five accused are students, while one is a probationer in a government job, sources said.

The police identified the five as Basudev Das, Sanjay Das, Abhijit Das, Subhropratim Dey and Gourab Basu.

According to the lawyers of the accused, the men had bought tickets to see Messi but were unable to do so. They went home without what they were promised and were later arrested, despite having been cheated, one of the lawyers said.

“My clients spent thousands to see Messi, but they did not get what they went for. They returned home empty-handed, and now they have been arrested,” the lawyer said.

The counsel raised questions on why out of so many people who were seen venting out their anger on the stadium furniture, only “four-five” were arrested.

According to the public prosecutor, there was electronic evidence against the accused, while police seizures proved their involvement.

Subhropratim Dey and Gourab Basu had come from Balurghat in north Bengal to see Messi, sources said.

Sanjay Das had allegedly picked up a flower pot, which was later found in his house.

His lawyer alleged that the police had framed him and picked up a random plant from Sanjay Das’s house and added it to the seizure list.

Police officers claimed that Sanjay Das was seen taking away a plant from the stadium. “On being questioned, he calmly said that the plant was lying unattended and he took it so he could take care of it,” said an officer attached to the probe.

Torn banners from the stadium were seized from one of the accused. “It is clear that the person was involved in the destruction of the banners that were hung inside the stadium,” said another officer.

Several video clips have emerged, some showing men kicking and dismantling seats from the gallery, some showing men hurling the broken seats, while others were seen trying to break through the fence and storm the pitch.

The police stated that they were in the process of identifying others involved in the vandalism.

“Law violation by damaging public property and attacking the police is unacceptable. We are scanning footage to identify these people. They will be arrested too,” said a senior officer of Bidhannagar city police.

The five were produced in court on Monday. They were sent to judicial remand till
December 22.