The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has issued notices to several properties of Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee-founded company, Leaps and Bounds Private Limited, to demolish unauthorised construction on the premises, civic body officials said on Tuesday.
The properties including the one at 188A Harish Mukherjee Road, where the TMC national general secretary lives, have been told to remove the unauthorized portions on their own, warning that if this is not done, the municipal body would carry out the demolition after seven days.
“This is a standard protocol we follow before a demolition drive is carried out. Notices have been served under section 400(1) of the KMC Act 1980 after it came to light that some portions of the buildings have been illegally constructed. We have sought the as-built drawings and the buildings’ sanction plans,” a senior KMC official said.
The demolition notice came days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) evicted the TMC and came to power winning 207 of the state assembly’s 294 seats. The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC won just 80 seats.
The confirmation about the municipal action came a day after chief minister Suvendu Adhikari declared at a rally in Kolkata on Monday that the government would not spare the TMC leaders.
“We are not going to leave it. Let me give you four names. One Raju Naskar of Beleghata. He has 18 properties. Sona Pappu of Kasba has 24 properties. Third is nephew (of Mamata Banerjee) Abhishek Banerjee. Leaps and Bounds Private Limited has 14 properties, he has four properties in his name and six more properties in his father’s name. Total 24. Son of Javed Khan (TMC legislator) has 90 properties. They have looted the people. In the coming days the BJP would send all the corrupt people to jail in a legal way,” Adhikari told the rally on Monday.
A notice was also pasted on the walls of ‘Shantiniketan’ building on 188A Harish Mukherjee Road which is popularly known to be the residence of Banerjee.
In his affidavit filed ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the TMC MP identified 30B Harish Chatterjee Street, the same address shared by Mamata Banerjee, as his official address. His affidavit also showed that he has no immovable assets in his name.
An ED statement in 2023 had described Abhishek Banerjee as the chief executive officer (CEO) of M/s Leaps and Bounds Private Limited.
Speaking at a meeting of TMC legislators at Mamata’s residence, Abhishek Banerjee signalled that he was not going to buckle under pressure from the authorities. “Our state had many chief ministers. But none like the current one. The one who was seen taking money on camera has been made the chief minister. Let them do whatever they want. Raze down my home, send notice. I won’t bow down over these things. Come what may my fight will continue against BJP,” Abhishek, the TMC national general secretary said at the meeting.
