In court, promoter Wassi finds no legal backing, sent to police custody for 14 days
Times of India | 20 March 2024
Kolkata: Mohammad Wasim, the promoter of the ill-fated building at Garden Reach, failed to find any lawyer to appear for him while he was produced before the chief judicial magistrate at the Alipore court. A lawyer from the Legal Aid Services was finally appointed, who moved a bail plea for Wasim, who is known as Wassi in the locality.
Wasim, who was brought to the court amid tight security, was produced before the judge and was sent to the court lock-up again. “It is quite natural that lawyers would not want to represent the promoter who is responsible for so many deaths. Perhaps they withdrew from accepting his brief on humanitarian grounds,” said Baiswanar Chattopadhyay, member of the Bar Council of West Bengal.
At the Alipore court, none of his relatives or his aides could be seen. While the court proceeding was in session, not even a curious onlooker entered the premises. “The incident reminds us of the 2013 tragedy in Thane, Maharashtra, in which 76 people died in a building collapse. Nine people, including a municipal commissioner, were arrested. This tragedy has a similar nature and police need custodial interrogation to get to the bottom of the facts,” public prosecutor Sourin Ghosal argued at the court.
“It is clear that he could not have done it alone. In the Thane incident, police found that government officials and other influential people were involved. Here too, others might be involved,” Ghosal said in the court.
Appearing for Wasim, Legal Aid Services lawyer Saikat Rakhit argued that police had slapped section 307 of IPC (punishment for attempt to murder). There was no such intention of attempt to murder on his part. “We moved the bail plea for him but the judge denied that. We have also told the court that he needs medical assistance,” Rakhit said. Wasim was finally sent to 14 days of police custody.
While being taken out of the court, Wasim said: “The engineer knew everything.”
The Garden Reach police station on Tuesday registered a fresh case against Wasim, Mohammad Nasim and Raja Das based on a complaint filed by KMC. The civic body registered the complaint after it was found that the construction work of the building continued despite a stop-work notice.
Police on Tuesday arrested Md Sarfaraz, the landlord of the plot where the illegal building had come up. He was tagged in the first case that Garden Reach police station had started suo motu while arresting the promoter Md Wasim, booking him under sections related to murder, attempt to murder and poor building construction. Police sources said that at least three cases were registered against Wasim with the Garden Reach police station in the past. He was arrested in Octo 2018 under Arms Act and the Explosives Act. After he received bail, he was arrested again on rioting charges. Earlier in 2015, he was arrested in an assault case by the Garden Reach police station.