‘Many in danger, number is huge’: Bengal MLA Debasish Dhar on Taratala warehouse investigation

As the Kolkata Police double down on their investigation into the Taratala warehouse case, West Bengal MLA Debasish Dhar said that the number of people who may be involved in this particular plan sanction may be “huge”, adding that several other such instances may open up when this one is scrutinised.

“We see all kinds of violations of rules and regulations, as far as construction is concerned. We might see a lot of other cases opening up when this one is scrutized. The number is huge,” Dhar said in an exclusive conversation with The Statesman.

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Stopping short of mentioning the exact number of people who may be involved in this case or the related ones which might crop up during the investigation, Dhar said that several bigwigs sitting at the top echelons of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation as well as those associated with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) may be in “danger”.

“The number is so high that all the dignitaries of Calcutta Municipal Corporation, of the Trinamool Congress, as well as engineers who passed the building plans are in danger,” he told The Statesman.

Speaking about the involvement of former Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim whose signature was shown by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari at the plan sanction document, while at the assembly on Thursday, the Sonarpur Uttar MLA said, “I will not comment on whether Firhad Hakim, the then Mayor, was involved in it or not. I have not gone through the notesheet.”

Dhar said that Hakim, who has now switched sides to the rebel TMC group led by Bengal Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee, may be in deep trouble if he had overruled any decision taken by the civil engineers.

“If there was a technical fault, and he had overruled it, he (Firhad Hakim) is in severe danger. If the engineers had done it, it is a different case,” he said.

On the quality of materials used in the Taratala warehouse construction, the MLA said, “In all the cases, you might see that low quality materials were used.”