4,000 EVMs destroyed in Kolkata government building fire, sabotage angle under probe
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Around 4,000 electronic voting machines (EVMs) were destroyed in a fire that broke out at a government building in Kolkata's Alipore area, West Bengal minister Kaushik Chowdhury said on Thursday.
The EVMs had been used in 10 Assembly constituencies during this year's West Bengal Assembly elections, according to the minister.
The fire broke out on Wednesday in the nine-storey building, which also houses the South 24 Parganas Zilla Parishad office and other government departments.
Chowdhury, the minister of state for fire and emergency services, said the incident did not appear to be a "normal fire" and that authorities were examining the possibility of sabotage.
He claimed that the fire originated on the third floor but spread to the seventh and eighth floors without significantly affecting the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors, according to scroll.in.
Questioning the pattern of the blaze, the minister said investigators were looking into how the fire could have spread in such a manner.
An FIR has been registered, and an investigation has been launched. Forensic teams visited the site to collect samples, though their work was reportedly hampered because parts of the building remained extremely hot after the fire.
The South 24 Parganas Zilla Parishad, which operates from the building, is controlled by the Trinamool Congress. The district is considered a political stronghold of the party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the fire. Investigation is ongoing.