Kolkata:
Kalicharan Banerjee – the former OSD (Officer on Special Duty) of Kolkata’s former Mayor Firhad Hakim — has been arrested by Kolkata Police in connection with the Taratala warehouse collapse incident. Shortly before his arrest, his name was mentioned by Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari in the state assembly today.
Addressing the assembly on the tragic mishap, in which 11 people were killed, Adhikari cited the fact-finding report, questioning how the faulty building sanction bore the signature of former mayor Firhad Hakim.
He then mentioned “Kali”, shredding the erstwhile Trinamool Congress government for allegedly taking bribes and turning the city into a death trap. “We don’t know what has happened inside the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. If Kali is caught, all information will come out,” Adhikari said a few short hours after the incident.
“No plan gets approved without Kali. Kali has been appointed by Camac Street (Abhishek Banerjee’s office) everyone knows. Kali is constructing Trinamool Bhavan near the Bypass worth Rs 200 crore. He takes the money from here and sends it to Camac Street (Abhishek Banerjee’s office). We have taken out all the details, FIR has been filed,” Adhikari added.
Kalicharan Banerjee or Kali was seen as a power broker within the Kolkata Municipal Corporation or KMC, the richest civic body in the state. Although the Chief Minister did not mention his full name, those in the civic body claimed he meant Banerjee.
When Adhikari was the Leader of the Opposition, he had raised the “Kali syndicate” within the KMC. “If Suvendu has so much problem with Kali, he should have spoken to him directly,” Firhad Hakim had responded.
After today’s warehouse collapse, insiders at KMC claimed Kalicharan Banerjee was linked to appointments, awarding of tenders and the approval given to illegal high-rise buildings in the city.
A 2003 state Civil Services officer, Kalicharan Banerjee had secured the second spot in the state and joined the Land and Land Revenue Department during the government of Jyoti Basu.
Three years later, in 2006, he appeared for the West Bengal Police Service examination and secured first place in the state. He joined the state police in 2008 but quit during training and returned to the Land Revenue Department.
Around 2010, Kalicharan Banerjee started working on deputation in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. At the time, Firhad Hakim was one of the most influential Mayor-in-Council (MMIC) members of the Kolkata municipal board.
Kalicharan Banerjee not only became Hakim’s close aide but also his Personal Assistant. For the next eight years, he remained behind the scenes, overseeing all Hakim’s political and administrative affairs.
Towards the end of 2018, when then-Mayor Sovan Chatterjee suddenly resigned, Firhad Hakim became the new Mayor.
Hakim brought Kalicharan Banerjee to the KMC as his OSD (Officer on Special Duty). Since then, his word was considered final within the Corporation’s corridors.
“To those who think they can avoid all responsibility, let me make it clear, no one will be spared,” Suvendu Adhikari has warned as a Special Investigation Team continues to probe the warehouse collapse.
Over the next four weeks, building plan sanctions cleared by the Trinamool Congress government will be audited across Kolkata and adjoining areas, the Chief Minister has announced.
