Kolkata: There may be some hope for around 34,576 Messi fans, who have been waiting for the refund of Salt Lake Stadium event ticket since Dec 13, at the beginning of the new year. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) that was formed to probe the stadium mess asked its lawyers to move the Bidhannagar court to pray for the return of about Rs 19 crore of Rs 22 crore seized from the accounts of main organiser, Satadru Dutta, who is presently in judicial custody.
"We froze the accounts. Legally, it means that the money cannot be used by Dutta or others. That does not provide us the right to distribute it in public. Hence, we appealed to court to allow us to release money to the actual ticket owners. Initially, we were hopeful that we would receive cooperation from the organisers, but their representatives began to almost bargain and finally backed out. Hence, we went to court. We believe we will be challenged and hence we are developing the evidence on which we plan to argue our case," said a source in the state administration and part of the SIT set up. A senior SIT member confirmed that the ‘go-ahead' was provided last month itself. The member stated that all possible legal options were being studied in the eventuality that this move would be challenged. Investigating officials earlier informed a local court that Rs 19 crore was raised from ticket sales for the Messi event. This information emerged from questioning individuals involved in ticket sales, analysing bank documents, and speaking to the online ticket sales partner, said cops.
A police officer said that statements from some of the attendees of the event were recorded, and more statements might be recorded, if necessary. The vice-president of the company responsible for ticket sales at the Messi event stated that they had agreements with Dutta for Kolkata, New Delhi, and Mumbai.
Dutta, who had got most of the payment, was yet to get Rs 8 crore. The company stated that if the SIT would request, they would pay the remaining amount, but it must be given to Dutta as per legal protocol. No senior SIT official came on record on the developments.