Kolkata: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Taratala warehouse collapse has recovered two mobile phones and several documents during a raid at the Shibpur residence of Kalicharan Banerjee on Sunday. Banerjee served as the officer on special duty (OSD) to former mayor Firhad Hakim.
Following the recoveries, the SIT directed five individuals to join the ongoing investigation starting Monday. They include the architect who submitted the warehouse plan and two building dept engineers from the KMC who were supposed to supervise the construction.
Investigators have found administrative oversight was absent during construction. No structural engineers inspected the site to verify load-bearing safety, and departmental engineers from the local civic body failed to conduct any periodic site visits.
KMC has decided to blacklist the architect and his firm. CM Suvendu Adhikari had earlier said the architect would be blacklisted.
Investigators are sending the two seized mobiles for forensic audit to extract digital leads. The SIT clarified that no former state minister has been summoned for questioning in connection with the case so far.
The police have conducted a raid at the New Alipore office of the warehouse owner Sambhunath Behra, now in police custody. Several files were seized during the raid.
Both the SIT and the KMC have focused their probes on the G+2 residential under construction warehouse claiming there is evidence that foundational safety protocols and structural inspections were completely bypassed to finish the project quickly.
Initial investigations also reveal that the mandatory soil testing process was compromised before construction began. This critical omission left the structural integrity of the foundation unverified against local ground conditions.
Compounding these structural lapses, workers have told SIT officials on-site that the builders reportedly utilized inferior quality construction materials to accelerate the building process and reduce expenditures.