Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], January 19 (ANI): Satadru Dutta, the main organiser of Lionel Messi’s GOAT tour to India, was granted bail by a Bidhannagar court on Monday.
The court allowed bail on two surety bonds of Rs 5,000 each after Dutta spent 35 days in custody following his arrest by Bidhannagar Police at Kolkata airport on December 13, 2025.
Satadru was arrested after Messi’s Kolkata leg of the GOAT Tour descended into chaos as fans who paid high ticket prices at Salt Lake Stadium’s event began throwing bottles and attempting to break the gates between the stands after the Argentine legend left early.
Angry fans resorted to vandalism at the Kolkata stadium, alleging poor event management and criticising VIPs and politicians for hogging the football icon’s attention and time to the extent that fans did not even get a glimpse of Messi.
The situation escalated when angry fans attempted to enter the ground to vandalise the tent and the goal post. To control the situation, police personnel used mild force to disperse the angry crowd from the ground.
Dutta’s lawyer, Soumyajit Raha, told reporters that the bail application was earlier rejected on January 9 as the court had allowed a plea by the investigating agency for jail interrogation.
“We had applied for the bail of accused Satadru Dutta today. So on the 9th, the bail application was rejected by the Court because the Court had earlier allowed an application filed on behalf of the investigating agency with regard to jail interrogation of the accused person. Subsequently, that interrogation was over in the meantime, and a short date was fixed for considering the development,” he told reporters.
“And today, after considering the entire development that has taken place in the last remand period, the Court, considering all aspects and our submission that this person has his family, his community roots and he is a permanent resident out here, and he has a minor child. Considering all aspects, the Court has been pleased to grant interim bail of Rs. 10,000 with one local security and other terms and conditions have also been given, a detailed order will be following it,” he added.
Reacting to the order, Prosecutor Bivas Chatterjee said that despite presenting substantial evidence before the court and raising objections, bail was granted. As part of the bail conditions, Dutta has been barred from leaving the state.
He added that the defence had sought bail under stringent conditions, including the impounding of passports, which the court accepted. However, he said they are dissatisfied with the order and have yet to review the detailed conditions mentioned in the bail order.
“We gave them objections. There is a lot of evidence. We showed it to the court. Even after showing a lot of evidence, the court has bailed them out. Their lawyer asked for bail on stringent conditions. They even asked for a condition to impound their passports. The court has listened to them and has given them bail. It is a stringent condition. But we have not seen the exact condition of the order yet. We are not happy with this order,” he told reporters. (ANI)
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