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Mob protests move to demolish party office constructed on Waqf land in Tollygunge area
The Calcutta High Court paused a demolition drive by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation at a Grade-I heritage site on wakf property in Kalighat, granting residents 30 days to appeal. The move came as local women protested and blocked a payloader, with allegations of assault against the complainant.
The Calcutta High Court on Sunday paused the Kolkata Municipal Corporation's (KMC) attempt to demolish structures at a Grade-I heritage site on wakf property on Satish Mukherjee Road in Kalighat. The court granted residents 30 days to appeal the August 19 order, according to The Times of India.
KMC officials had arrived to demolish premises 51/1A and 51/1B, and police and central forces cordoned off the area. The demolition orders were issued on August 18 and 19, and a vacate notice was posted on Friday, officials said.
A resident claiming permanent occupancy at 51/1A approached Acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty for a hearing, and the matter went to Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury. At 11:15 am, as the payloader approached amid protests, the court stayed the demolition.
Justice Basu Chowdhury ruled that giving residents two to three days to respond did not provide a "meaningful opportunity" to appeal under Section 400(3) of the KMC Act. Noting that an order under Section 400(1) is appealable, the court granted residents 30 days to appeal before the Municipal Building Tribunal.
Property Status and Allegations
The KMC order stated that the unauthorised construction covers 1,500 square metres and noted encroachment by 500 families and illegal structures. The Wakf Board CEO-in-charge confirmed that 51/1A and 51/1B are registered Waqf properties containing Grade-I heritage mosques and the tombs of Tipu Sultan.
Authorities alleged that one structure housed a Trinamool party office built without an approved plan, while locals maintained it was residential. Local sources named TMC organiser Kumar Saha as the builder. A resident whose family has lived there for generations questioned why notice was served only now.
Protest and Police Complaint
The New Indian Express reported that a mob protested when the KMC team with a bulldozer went to demolish the "illegally constructed" political party office on Waqf land in Tollygunge. A section of local women protested against the presence of the bulldozer, which was sent to raze part of the office reportedly belonging to the TMC, and assaulted one person accompanying the team, who was allegedly the complainant.
"The construction was made on Waqf property, and we went there upon receiving a complaint," an official said. The KMC said a TMC party office had come up, and the move to demolish it evoked strong protest. The situation was under control, but personnel of the RAF were keeping vigil, the official added.
Tipu Sultan family member Mohammad Shahid Alam lodged a complaint at Tollygunge police station alleging assault. Police said an investigation has begun with CCTV footage.
How each outlet told it
The New Indian Express
Framing: Emphasizes a mob protest and a TMC-linked office, with 'mob' in the headline. Omits the court halt and heritage context. — Descriptive of conflict, focusing on the disruption caused.
Facts Included:
A mob protested when a KMC demolition with bulldozer went to demolish an 'illegally constructed' political party office on Waqf land in Tollygunge.
A section of local women protested and assaulted a person accompanying the team, who was allegedly the complainant.
Official said: “The construction was made on Waqf property, and we went there upon receiving a complaint.”
KMC said a TMC party office had come up, and the move to demolish it evoked strong protest.
The situation was under control, but personnel of the RAF were keeping vigil.
Framing: Emphasizes the High Court's intervention (halting) and heritage/wakf status; omits that the building was a party office or the protest. — Measured and legalistic, highlighting a due process violation with quotes like “meaningful opportunity”.
Facts Included:
Calcutta High Court paused KMC's demolition attempt at a Grade-I heritage site on wakf property on Satish Mukherjee Road, Kalighat.
Court granted residents 30 days to appeal the Aug 19 order.
Police and central forces cordoned off the area.
KMC officials arrived to demolish premises 51/1A and 51/1B.
Authorities alleged one structure housed a Trinamool party office, while locals maintained it was residential.
Officials said demolition orders were issued on Aug 18 and 19, and a vacate notice was posted on Friday.
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimThe Calcutta High Court paused KMC's demolition attempt at a Grade-I heritage site on wakf property on Satish Mukherjee Road, Kalighat.
ClaimJustice Basu Chowdhury ruled that giving residents two to three days to respond did not provide a “meaningful opportunity” to appeal under Section 400(3) of the KMC Act.
ClaimWakf Board CEO-in-charge confirmed that 51/1A and 51/1B are registered Waqf properties containing Grade-I heritage mosques and the tombs of Tipu Sultan.
ClaimA mob protested when a KMC team with a bulldozer went to demolish an 'illegally constructed' political party office on Waqf land in the Tollygunge area on Sunday.