Darjeeling municipality: Civic chief hints desertion charge

Darjeeling, April 22.TT: The Darjeeling municipality has decided to lodge a police complaint against one of the alleged owners of the market that was razed to the ground on Friday “for having left town at the time of the fire”.

The chairperson of the municipality, however, made it clear that a general diary against Abdul Manan did not mean the civic body was suggesting arson.

“We will lodge a general diary against Abdul Manan tomorrow as we have heard that he left town when the shops were on fire. The general dairy is, however, only a precautionary step and not to suggest anything else,” said chairperson Amar Singh Rai.

Records at the Anjuman-e-Islamia guesthouse in Darjeeling showed that Manan had come to town on April 10 from Varanasi and left “at 7am on April 20”. At that time, the fire was still raging in the market between HD Lama Road and NB Singh Road, though it was under control. More than 100 shops were destroyed in the fire and 21 families were rendered homeless.

“He left without informing any of the staff. The daily room rent at the guesthouse is Rs 100 and though he had cleared Rs 700, he left without paying the Rs 300 he owed us,” said a guesthouse staff member.

Sources said Manan stayed at the guesthouse whenever he visited Darjeeling to collect the rents. “I think he used to come here once a year,” said a staff member.

The municipality is worried that the rehabilitation could be delayed if the supposed owners of the land do not turn up. “We cannot do much on privately owned land,” said Rai.

The land was owned by Md Salauddin. After his death, the property seems to have been divided between Abdul Manan and another man. “We are trying to get the contact numbers of the current owners,” said Rai. However, the mutation records show the land has not been transferred to the two owners yet.

The municipality has declared the burnt area a “no construction zone” to prevent haphazard constructions.

But the civic body will soon start construction on the land between NB Singh Road and NH55 where some shops were also burnt as this space belongs to the municipality.