A complaint was lodged against Firhad Hakim, former mayor of Kolkata and two other ex-councillors of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Anwar Khan and Shams Iqbal on Friday in connection with the collapse of an under-construction warehouse in Taratala that killed 16 persons and left 17 others injured.
“We have received a complaint against Hakim and two former councillors Anwar Khan and Shams Iqbal. The complaint alleged that several illegal buildings have been constructed in the area and the role of the three needs to be probed. Investigation is going on,” said police.
This comes two days after chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said in the legislative assembly that the previous Trinamool Congress-led board of the KMC sanctioned the warehouse project despite having a faulty design. He slammed the ex-mayor without naming Hakim.
Police have already arrested Hakim’s former officer on special duty (OSD) Kalicharan Banerjee. A city court on Friday sent him to police custody till July 4.
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“The chief minister flagged a document in the assembly signed by ex-mayor and had said that no one would be spared. If the former mayor is arrested by 5pm on Saturday then we would acknowledge that the chief minister really meant what he said. Else we would understand that it was an effort to build political pressure on the former mayor to join the rebel camp,” Kunal Ghosh, TMC spokesperson said.
{{/usCountry}}“The chief minister flagged a document in the assembly signed by ex-mayor and had said that no one would be spared. If the former mayor is arrested by 5pm on Saturday then we would acknowledge that the chief minister really meant what he said. Else we would understand that it was an effort to build political pressure on the former mayor to join the rebel camp,” Kunal Ghosh, TMC spokesperson said.
{{/usCountry}}“Did Ghosh demand anyone’s arrest when the Posta bridge collapsed (during the TMC regime in March 2016)? The government doesn’t run on what Ghosh states or thinks,” Debjit Sarkar, BJP spokesperson said in retaliation.
At least 16 persons were killed and 17 others were injured when a four-storey under-construction warehouse collapsed at Taratala around 12 noon on Wednesday. Police have arrested six persons till date.
Three out of six members of a family from Bihar’s Munger, who had come to work at the site were killed, people aware of the developments said. The deceased have been identified as Mannu Kumar (19), Ghee Kumar (20) and Sirchand Kumar (22), family member and survivor Manikchand Kumar said.
“Six of our family members-- my father, my three brothers, a cousin, and I - joined work at the construction site a month ago. My cousin Sirchand and two brothers Mannu and Ghee have been killed. My elder brother Sohid Kumar, my father Rajendra Ram and I sustained injuries. We are returning home,” he said.
“We were working at that time. The entire structure came crashing down with a deafening sound. I took that video while still being trapped...I was dragged out by some people,” Manikchand told HT. On Saturday, he shared a video with HT, captured on his mobile, minutes after the disaster. In the 34-second video the victim could be seen trapped in between collapsed iron structures and bleeding