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Remains of 27 victims found in Nazirabad warehouse fire; DNA tests to confirm identity
Police had received 27 missing complaints from families complaining that their kin, who worked in the two warehouses, were untraceable.
KOLKATA: The remains of 27 people have been found at the two Nazirabad warehouses gutted in a January 26 fire, police said on Saturday, confirming the death toll in the devastating fire.
“We have found the remains of all the 27 persons who went missing after the fire and were feared dead. As each of the body parts were recovered from a different location inside the two warehouses, we apprehend that these could belong to as many individuals,” an officer of the Baruipur district police said on condition of anonymity.
“The search operation is complete,” the officer said.
A massive fire on January 26 gutted two warehouses in Nazirabad near Kolkata. Police had earlier said that they received 27 missing complaints from families complaining that their kin, who worked in the two warehouses, were untraceable.
The officer cited above said that the remains –– bones, skulls and some mangled body parts charred beyond recognition –– recovered from the accident site have been sent for forensic analysis.
“Samples from the next of kin of the missing persons have also been sent to the lab for DNA matching. We are waiting for the reports,” he said.
Officials said the two warehouses –– both owned by Kolkata-based Pushpanjali Decorators –– were built on the protected East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW), where no construction is allowed. The firm’s owner, Gangadhar Das, was arrested earlier.
On Friday, the manager and deputy manager of the momo company that rented the warehouse were also arrested. On Saturday, they were remanded in police custody for six days.
“We are questioning them. Also, the statements of the survivors who have reached home in East Midnapore would be taken by the police,” the officer mentioned above said.
The political slugfest over the fire continued on Saturday, with Union home minister Amit Shah criticising the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government. “The fire in the warehouses is not an accident. It is the result of the corruption of the Mamata Banerjee-led government,” Shah said during a rally in Barrackpore.
“The corruption of Mamata Banerjee’s party and her government cannot remain hidden any more. TMC men are involved in the accident. The warehouses had been constructed on wetlands and no NOC (no objection certificate) from the environment department,” he added.
Shah also claimed that the owners of the momo company, a Kolkata-based chain of fast-food restaurants, had not been arrested due to links to the ruling Trinamool Congress. “The owner of the momo brand is close to which leader? With whom did the owners go on a foreign trip? Why haven’t the owners been arrested so far? Had the victims been infiltrators would Mamata Banerjee have behaved the same way? People of the state have died. Mamata should feel ashamed for engaging in vote-bank politics over this,” Shah said.
In Delhi, BJP spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan said the company’s chief executive officer was with Mamata Banerjee when she visited Madrid and demanded a court monitored probe into the fire.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) hit back, saying a probe into the incident is ongoing and that the government is taking strong actions. “Many people died in Madhya Pradesh after drinking contaminated water. Was it a result of corruption? So many people died in Kumbh. Was it also a result of corruption? Did he say that the BJP’s men were involved? Three persons have been arrested and an investigation is going on,” TMC social media head Debangshu Bhattacharya said.
