By IANS,
Kolkata : Police Wednesday quizzed top officials of a luxury resort vandalised by a mob as a senior West Bengal Left Front minister demanded the arrest of the resort authorities for arms and bombs found on its premises on the north eastern fringes of the city.
The authorities of the premier resort – Vedic Hotels and Resorts – however, denied involvement of any of their employees in Sunday’s violence when a 21-year-old youth was fired upon by some “antisocial elements” incensed over their team bowing out of a local soccer tournament.
Amid accusations that the anti-social elements had taken shelter in the resort premises, a few thousand strong mob – comprising people from surrounding villages – vandalised it and set it afire, raiding it with burning torches, bombs and iron rods.
On Monday, police claimed to have recovered some weapons, 22 bombs as well as bomb-making materials from the resort, though a top official Wednesday claimed that the arms haul took place in an under-construction spot away from its core area.
The resort’s executive director M.J. Robertson and managing director of the holding company Vedic Realty Raj Kishore Modi were questioned by the police on their dealings with some anti-socials who had triggered the violence by killing the youth.
Meanwhile, state PWD Minister Kshiti Goswami said: “Why shouldn’t they (resort management) be arrested after arms are found from the premises? In the past also, the government had hesitated in taking crucial decisions. And this had only muddled the situation”.
But state Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty contradicted the minister. “You cannot demand my arrest if arms are found in the state secretariat. There are vast differences between one’s own premises and other places”.
In a media conference, Modi claimed that some locals could have hidden the arms at the spot where those were found.
“The exact spot from where the arms were found is not part of the resort. It’s in an under-construction area. Vedic Realty is developing it as part of a separate project,” Modi said.
He also denied any dealings with local tough Gabbar, the prime suspect in the violence. “We have several men from the locality who act as suppliers and give contract to the locals. He may be one of them. But he is not our employee.”
Modi also denied any forcible acquisition of land and claimed that the company has paid more than the government land rates.