Cafe 'owned' by TMC leader's son demolished for being built on 'encroached land'

Kolkata: A cafe, allegedly built on encroached land and owned by the son of TMC leader Saokat Molla, was demolished in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district on Thursday, an official said.

He also claimed that the action was taken after the Molla's family did not remove the "illegal" structure in the Canning area, despite repeated notices.

The cafe, Aranayer Kule, allegedly run by Imran Molla, the son of the former TMC MLA, was constructed "illegally by encroaching the char (sandbank) of the Matla river", the official said.


Also read: BJP's Boora Narsaiah Goud claims 'family rule' triggered expected split in TMC

The family members of Molla could not be reached for their comments.

The district administration had issued notices, asking the owner to remove the cafe structure by June 29, and warned that the authorities concerned would carry out a demolition exercise if the direction is not followed, the official said.

"While furniture was seen being removed from the cafe after the notices, the structure itself was not demolished within the stipulated time, prompting the administration to step in," he said.

A large contingent of police personnel and central forces were deployed outside the cafe during the exercise, he said.

A district official, who supervised the demolition exercise, said the structure had come up illegally on government land.

"A complaint was received regarding this. After a hearing, the owner was given time to remove the structure. Since he failed to act within the period, the demolition was carried out following government norms," he said.

The matter had first come to light after local media reported on the "illegal" cafe, following which the administration examined documents related to the land and ordered its demolition.