Rs 5 lakh looted in Garia's Naba Durga Puja Committee attack, club vandalised by gang
Telegraph | 7 February 2026
The office of Naba Durga Puja Committee in Garia, one of the popular pujas in south Calcutta, was allegedly vandalised, robbed, and its members beaten up by a gang on Friday morning.
Club members blamed a developer for the attack, a charge that was denied by one of his associates.
"Around 7am, some 50 men, many of them armed, raided the club office. The AC, television set and furniture were smashed. Everything was vandalised. The cupboard that stored cash was forced open, and ₹5 lakh was robbed. When we tried to resist, some of the robbers pointed firearms at us and threatened to kill us," said Nandikishore Singh, secretary of the puja committee.
Singh was one of those allegedly beaten up. He accused the developer of orchestrating the attack. The club was opposed to his illegal activities, like filling ponds and constructing buildings on them, he said.
A police complaint has been filed at Narendrapur police station. A police team visited the club later in the day. An officer from the Baruipur police district said that two men have been arrested. The CCTV footage is being scanned to trace more men behind the attack, the police said.
An associate of the accused developer denied the allegations. He said the vandalism was an "internal feud" of the club, resulting from "factionalism".
"Let the police do their job," he said.
Naba Durga, more than 80 years old, is one of the top-ticket Durga Pujas in the area, drawing huge crowds every year. Traffic crawls on NSC Bose Road on festive days because of the puja.