Notice issued to Abhishek Banerjee for fire safety lapses at his Kolkata office

Kolkata, Sep 2 (IANS) West Bengal fire services department on Tuesday night slapped a notice alleging severe fire safety norms irregularities at the Trinamool Congress general secretary and the party’s Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha member, Abhishek Banerjee’s Camac Street office in Central Kolkata, which is already in the midst of controversies in connection with FIRs lodged over the August 27 clash during the removal of an allegedly illegal billboard from the roof of that building on August 27.

The notice from the state fire services department was served on the same day when Abhishek, also the nephew of the former West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, was questioned for over six hours at the local Shakespeare Sarani Police Station in connection the August 27 clashes, in which Abhishek, Trinamool Congress’s Rajya Sabha member, Derek O’Brien and their associates have been accused of forcefully preventing the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) staff and Kolkata Police personnel from removing that illegal billboard.

On August 31, a team of state fire services department officials inspected the fire safety facilities at that office, and on the basis of that inspection, a notice was served on Tuesday night alleging several lapses in the fire safety arrangements at that office.

In the notice, a written response has been sought within 48 hours, citing six types of irregularities in the fire safety system. The fire department said that the fire safety certificate expired on August 10 and, in addition to that, there were multiple flaws in the fire safety system in Abhishek’s office on the 7th and 8th floors of the said building, sources aware of the development said.

In the notice, the state fire services department has also sought an explanation as to why the said office should not be sealed because of inadequate fire safety arrangements.

Incidentally, after facing a marathon interrogation for six hours earlier in the day, Abhishek claimed that all these administrative actions initiated against him were out of a political vendetta. He also claimed that he would not bow down in front of such pressures.

–IANS

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