4,000 EVMs destroyed in Kolkata's Alipore fire, SIT begins probe: Accident or sabotage?
A massive fire that gutted nearly 4,000 electronic voting machines (EVMs) inside a government building in Kolkata's Alipore has triggered a high-level police investigation, with authorities now examining whether the blaze was accidental or the result of sabotage.
Kolkata Police has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) after registering an FIR over the June 12 fire that ripped through the multi-storey building housing several government departments, including election offices.
The controversy intensified after West Bengal Minister of State for Fire Services Kaushik Chowdhury revealed that around 4,000 EVMs used in 10 Assembly constituencies during the recent state elections were destroyed in the blaze.
What has raised eyebrows is the reported pattern of the fire's spread. According to Chowdhury, the blaze was first detected on lower floors before reaching the eighth and ninth floors, where election offices and EVMs were located.
Some intervening floors, however, appeared to have escaped major damage.
"The incident does not look like a routine fire," the minister said, adding that investigators are exploring all possibilities, including deliberate sabotage.
Forensic experts have been asked to examine the scene and determine the exact cause.
The newly formed SIT comprises ACP Sukhendu Mukhopadhyay, Detective Department Inspector Hirak Dalapati, Inspector Arpan Das and Sub-Inspector Suman Ghosh.
The team has been tasked with tracing the origin of the fire and assessing the scale of destruction. The incident has also ignited a political row.
The Trinamool Congress alleged that thousands of control units, ballot units and VVPAT machines linked to constituencies such as Kasba, Jadavpur, Behala East, Behala West, Metiaburuz and Satgachia were ‘mysteriously’ destroyed in the blaze, demanding answers over how such a large cache of election equipment could be lost in a government facility.
With forensic findings awaited and suspicions mounting, the Alipore fire has quickly become one of the most closely watched investigations in West Bengal.