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🇮🇳 India /Crime & Justice

West Bengal fire department orders TMC youth wing to vacate Kolkata office

From Hindustan Times · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • West Bengal’s fire services department ordered the occupants of two floors in a Kolkata building to vacate, citing inadequate fire safety measures and an expired certificate.
  • The floors have housed the Trinamool Youth Congress since a 10-year lease began in March 2020.
  • The directive follows recent disputes and police action linked to the building and Banerjee’s office, while TMC leaders had not commented.

The West Bengal fire services department has told occupants to leave the Kolkata office used by Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee’s youth wing, declaring the premises unsafe because of missing fire safety measures.

The order covers the sixth and seventh floors of an eight-storey building on Camac Street. The floors were leased to the Trinamool Youth Congress in March 2020 for 10 years. In a letter to owner Rama Devi Goenka, the department said poor maintenance and inadequate safety arrangements posed an imminent threat to lives and property. It also barred further use until the required measures are completed and the fire safety certificate is renewed.

The department sent the letter days after its fire brigade team inspected the two floors. The certificate had last been renewed on Aug. 10, 2023, for three years, and had expired without renewal this year. TMC leaders, including Abhishek Banerjee, had not commented when the report was filed.

Considering the fact that due to non-maintenance and inadequacy of the required fire safety measures, the occupancy is unsafe from fire and life safety point of view.

· West Bengal fire services departmentThe department explained why it ordered the occupants to vacate the two floors.

The directive follows other recent developments at the building. On Aug. 27, a confrontation broke out between TMC workers and police after Kolkata civic officials removed an allegedly unauthorised party billboard. A case was registered against Banerjee, who was questioned by police on Tuesday. On Thursday, armed masked men ransacked and looted the office in the early hours.

Sagnika Banerjee, a lawyer for Goenka, said the lease required the youth wing to occupy and operate from the floors legally only after civic authorities issued a completion certificate. She said Banerjee took possession before that certificate was obtained. She also said the lease was signed by TMC leader Debraj Chakraborty, whom authorities arrested in July on charges including extortion, money laundering, criminal intimidation and possessing assets disproportionate to his income. He remains in custody.

He was supposed to occupy the floors and operate legally after we received the completion certificate from the civic authorities.

· Sagnika BanerjeeThe lawyer representing the property owner described the lease conditions.
About this summary

Originally published by Hindustan Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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