Wow! Momo fire 'not accident but corruption': Amit Shah tears into Mamata

The devastating fire in warehouses in the Anandapur area of Kolkata, West Bengal, one of which belonged to a city-headquartered Wow! Momo fast-food chain, on January 25, which allegedly killed nearly 30 workers, has triggered a major political slugfest in the poll-bound state.

Also read: WB Governor blames authorities for Kolkata fire; Adhikari leads BJP protest

On Saturday (January 31), Union Home Minister Amit Shah took on the state’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) government over the tragedy.

At a rally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in Barrackpore in the state’s North 24 Parganas, he said the tragedy was not accidental and the result of the corruption that the Mamata Banerjee government indulges in. Asking the chief minister to be ashamed, Shah raised the Opposition party’s pitch, which was being sharpened by its state leadership over the last few days, by quite a few notches at once.

Wow! Momo CEO's foreign trip with Mamata

“As I stand before this massive gathering of workers, I want to begin by paying tribute to all the workers who lost their lives in the fire at the momo factory in the Anandpur warehouse. The Anandapur fire was not an accident. Mamata Banerjee government corruption is the cause. Whose money is parked in the momo factory? Who has the momo factory owner taken a foreign flight with? Why has the owner not been arrested?” Shah asked.

The minister was taking a dig at Sagar Daryani, chief executive officer of Wow! Momo, who accompanied Mamata during her business visit to Madrid, Spain, in 2023. Pro-BJP social media handles were also circulating a picture showing Daryani with Mamata on the streets of Madrid, suggesting that the government was defending the accused.

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Shah also questioned the TMC government’s response to the tragedy. He said it took a state minister 32 hours to reach the spot, even as labourers were screaming inside. The BJP leader demanded from Mamata to seek an investigation and ensure that the culprits are jailed.

Shah connects infiltration with tragedy

The home minister connected the issue of infiltration while attacking the Mamata government over the blaze, asking how she would have reacted had the infiltrators met with such a tragic end. He warned the chief minister, saying she could hush up things for the time being, but when the BJP comes to power in Kolkata after April, the new government will identify each one responsible for the Anandapur incident and jail them. He said the administration was non-existent in Bengal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the loss of lives in the Anandapur fire, the same day Shah reached Bengal, and announced ex gratia assistance from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) — Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of each killed, and Rs 50,000 to those injured.

Also read: Ajit Pawar plane crash: Mamata hints at conspiracy, calls for SC-monitored probe

The TMC also did not sit back and watch. It hit back against the BJP over the recent incidents of collapsing bridges in Gujarat, a state which the saffron party has been ruling for decades, sarcastically asking whether the "God’s hand” was behind them.

Two employees arrested

Meanwhile, two more persons, both senior employees of the fast-food company, were arrested this week in connection with the fire.

They took the total number of arrests to three, including Gangadhar Das, the owner of another warehouse, which was also affected by the fire.

The two Wow! Momo employees, who were arrested on Thursday (January 29) night, are Manoranjan Sit, the manager of the ill-fated warehouse, and Raja Chakraborty, his deputy. They were held in the Narendrapur area on the outskirts of southern Kolkata.

The duo was produced at the sub-divisional court in Baruipur in South 24 Parganas, adjacent to the state capital, on Friday (January 30) and sent to police custody for five days. The defence said in court that the fire started from the other warehouse and that the company also lost three employees in the fire. It was also said that there were 33 fire extinguishers inside the warehouse and that adequate compensation had been provided. They pleaded with the court for bail.

The public prosecutor opposed the appeal for bail and urged for police custody for the accused managers.

The police were probing the arrested duo's role during the fire.

Families fear for loved ones

Families of several workers who were inside the gutted warehouse filed missing person reports, fearing their loved ones could remain under the debris, even as the flicker of hope dies with each passing moment.

Investigators are also examining whether proper fire-safety guidelines were maintained at the ill-fated warehouse, which spanned 12,000 square feet and had packaging materials and other supplies. Materials were also seen being piled up at the main entry, possibly creating an obstacle.