Kolkata: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Kolkata Police probing the fire incident at a multi-storey building on Mirza Ghalib Street in Central Kolkata, which claimed nine lives, has arrested one person, said officials on Thursday.

Each floor of the said building had separate hotels or guesthouses, and the source of the fire was one such hotel, “Shikha Inn”. The person arrested by the city police this morning has been identified as Abu Zafar, who had taken the hotel on lease from the original owner, Bireshwar Mitra.

Zafar was arrested from his residence in Jorasanko, North Kolkata. He will be presented at a city court later in the day, and the public prosecutor will seek his police custody.

Mitra, the original owner of the hotel, is still absconding. Besides arresting Zafra, the members of the SIT have detained two other persons, reportedly staff of the hotel, for questioning. However, the city police are yet to disclose their identities.

The State Fire Services Department has issued show-cause notices to nine other hotels and four restaurants on Mirza Ghalib Street for non-compliance with safety regulations. They have been asked to respond within the next 24 hours.

The five-storey building on Mirza Ghalib Street housed multiple hotels and guesthouses, with each having shacks. Hotel ‘Shikha Inn’ was on the third floor of the same building, covering an area of ​​1,100 square feet.

There had been numerous allegations of irregularities at this hotel. The hotel caught fire late Tuesday night. Nine people lost their lives in the fire.

The West Bengal government has announced a detailed special audit of all hotels, lodges and guesthouses in the Mirza Ghalib Street area following the incident.

The New Market Police Station, under whose jurisdiction the building falls, has registered a suo motu case. The State Fire Services Department has also lodged a separate complaint.

Mumbai: In a major action against child labour, the Charkop Police raided an imitation jewellery manufacturing unit in Kandivali West and rescued 13 minors, Mumbai police officials said on Thursday.

The rescued children are reportedly between 13 and 17 years of age.

Mumbai Police conducted the operation at a unit identified as ‘Jhahara Fashion Era’, located in the Charkop Industrial Estate. According to preliminary investigations, minors were allegedly employed at the facility to manufacture imitation jewellery and bangles.

The police said the children were allegedly made to work for nine to 10 hours a day and were not paid adequate wages. All 13 children reportedly hail from different districts of West Bengal.

Investigators also uncovered another disturbing detail during the raid: The children were living at the workplace itself. The owner and operator of the unit reportedly failed to produce valid documents verifying the ages of the children.

The police have detained the unit’s owner, Ankit Kumar Mahendra Rawal, and its operator, Saminur Motiyar Rahman Shaikh. A case has been registered against both under relevant provisions of the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act and the Juvenile Justice Act.

Following the rescue, the 13 minors were handed over to the department concerned for further care and necessary action.

The police are now investigating who was responsible for bringing the children from West Bengal to Mumbai and whether a larger network involved in child labour is operating behind the racket.

Under Indian law, the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, which was amended in 2016, prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 in all occupations and processes, subject to certain exceptions, including helping in non-hazardous family enterprises after school hours or during vacations.

The law also prohibits adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18 from working in hazardous occupations and processes.

Children are permitted to assist their families or family enterprises only under specific conditions, provided the work is non-hazardous and does not adversely affect their education.

Article 24 of the Indian Constitution prohibits the employment of children in factories, mines and other hazardous occupations, while Article 21A guarantees free and compulsory education to children between the ages of six and 14.

Kolkata: The Hooghly Rural District Police in West Bengal arrested Uttam Kundu, the former chief of Tarakeswar Municipality, who had been absconding, said officials on Thursday.

Kundu, currently part of the rebel faction of the Trinamool Congress led by Ritabrata Banerjee, was arrested on various charges, including corruption and extortion.

He will be presented at a district court in Hooghly later on Thursday.

Kundu was absconding for quite some time. After being tipped off by their sources, a team from the Hooghly Rural District Police reached Kolkata late Wednesday night and arrested him from a hideout in the city.

A state police officer said that Kundu was accused of extorting Rs 40 lakh from a Kolkata-based businessman, Rajesh Agarwal, during the previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress regime. He is also accused of forcibly occupying an under-construction flat and also has charges of involvement in illegal land-grabbing.

It is learnt that based on a complaint filed by Agarwal after the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly polls, in which the Trinamool Congress faced a landslide defeat, the Hooghly Rural District Police registered an FIR against the former Tarakeswar Municipality chairman. Since then, Kundu has been absconding.

At one point, Kundu was the president of the Trinamool Congress’ trade union wing, Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress (INTTUC), and Ritabrata Banerjee was its state president.

Hence, after the Assembly polls, when Trinamool Congress split into two factions — one led by former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the other by Ritabrata Banerjee — Kundu promptly joined the second group.

For his loyalty, Kundu was made the president of the rebel faction in the Arambagh organisational district. However, despite joining the rebel faction, Kundu maintained that he still considered Mamata Banerjee as his supreme leader.