Two days after widespread spectator rampage marred a marquee football event featuring Argentine legend Lionel Messi at the Salt Lake stadium, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accepted the sports minister’s resignation, while the state government show-caused the DGP and other senior officers, and suspended a deputy commissioner.A resignation letter written to Banerjee by Sports Minister Aroop Biswas, who has remained in the eye of the storm since the stadium fiasco for his proximity to Messi and his entourage on the pitch allegedly blocking view from galleries, was shared by his party colleague Kunal Ghosh on social media.
In the December 15 letter written on a blank paper, Biswas sought relief from the charge of the sports department for the sake of an “impartial inquiry” which the state government has initiated.
The chief minister on Tuesday “appreciated the sentiment and intention of the sports minister” and declared that the sports department would be looked after by her till the “inquiry was over”.
Earlier in the day, while acting on recommendations of the three-member committee headed by retired Justice Ashim Kumar Roy formed to investigate the alleged event mismanagement, the state government slapped a show-cause notice on DGP Rajeev Kumar seeking an explanation over the lapses reported at the venue and set a deadline of 24 hours to reply.
Bidhannagar Police Commissioner Mukesh Kumar was also served a similar show-cause notice and was asked to clarify the role and conduct of the commissionerate in the management of the event, which had led to large-scale chaos and vandalism by spectators within the stadium premises on Saturday.
The government suspended the Bidhannagar Deputy Commissioner Aneesh Sarkar and initiated departmental proceedings against him for reported negligence of duty on that day, a statement from Chief Secretary Manoj Pant’s office said.
Youth Affairs and Sports Department Principal Secretary Rajesh Kumar Sinha was also show-caused, while the services of Salt Lake stadium Chief Executive Officer Deb Kumar Nandan were withdrawn with immediate effect.
As per recommendations of the probe committee, the state constituted a SIT comprising four senior IPS officers — Piyush Pandey, Javed Shamim, Supratim Sarkar and Muralidhar — to conduct a thorough probe into the stadium chaos which forced the short-termination of the event.
Biswas, who currently holds charge of both the sports and youth welfare and the power departments, has sought relief only from responsibilities of the sports portfolio.
Even after the acceptance of his resignation from that post, he remains part of the state cabinet, sources said.