Key Facts
Kolkata Police has constituted a four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the fire at a government building in Alipore that destroyed around 4,000 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). The blaze occurred on Wednesday at the administrative building of the South 24 Parganas zilla parishad, a stronghold of the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Details of the Incident
The fire was reported around 9:50 am at the multi-storey building housing several state government departments. Ten fire tenders were deployed to control the blaze. According to Minister of State for Fire and Emergency Services Kaushik Chowdhury, the fire started on the third or fourth floor but reached the eighth and ninth floors where the EVMs were stored, while the intermediate floors remained undamaged. “Preliminary investigation suggests that the fire started on the third or fourth floor. We wonder how it reached the eighth and ninth floors. The fifth, sixth and seventh floors in between were not damaged,” Chowdhury said.
Around 4,000 EVMs from approximately 10 assembly constituencies were destroyed. The machines included control units, ballot units, and VVPATs. Forensic officials collected samples from the site, but intense heat initially prevented entry to the affected floors.
Political Reactions
The incident has sparked political outcry. The TMC questioned how the EVMs were destroyed despite legal efforts to preserve them, posting on X: “Was this merely an accident…or a calculated attempt to make crucial evidence vanish after tampering with Democracy itself?” The Congress demanded clarification from the government and Election Commission, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) called it “no ordinary incident” and urged the BJP to answer. The BJP has not yet commented.
What Readers Should Know
- The SIT was set up on Friday and the investigation is in its early stages.
- The building is under the South 24 Parganas zilla parishad, controlled by TMC, and the district is a political bastion of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee.
- Judicial intervention had been sought earlier to preserve EVMs and CCTV footage.
FAQ
How many EVMs were destroyed in the Kolkata fire?
Approximately 4,000 EVMs, including control units, ballot units, and VVPATs, were destroyed.
Which constituencies were the EVMs from?
The EVMs were from Kasba, Jadavpur, Behala East, Behala West, Metiaburuz, Satgachia, and other constituencies under Diamond Harbour sub-division.
Who is investigating the incident?
A four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Kolkata Police is probing the fire.