Attempt to set Writers' Building on fire: WB Home Secretary

An alert police constable today raised an alarm after he saw kerosene oil spilled over in an office of the state home department inside heritage Writers' Building, which was construed as an attempt to set it on fire.
"Prima facie we are suspecting that someone or a group was trying to set the Writers' Building on fire," Home Secretary Basudeb Banerjee told reporters at Nabanna, the relocated state secretariat.
A police constable smelt kerosene and found several books and files doused with it lying on the floor of the Home Department's publication office located at the G-Block on the building's top floor, he said, adding the wing was sealed off.

Stating an inquiry would be made and those involved would be traced, Banerjee said the sleuths of Kolkata Police were on the scene.
"We are looking into the matter very seriously and are determined to catch whoever did this. All forensic means will be used and CCTV footage will also be looked into" he said, adding the Chief Minister has asked that the constable be rewarded.
The Writers' Building is at present being renovated and 11 state government departments have been moved to the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners (HRBC) building, a 15-storey structure at Mandirtala in Howrah, rechristened as Nabanna, as a makeshift arrangement.

The Writers' Building originally served as the office for writers of the British East India Company, hence the name. Designed by Thomas Lyon in 1777, the Writers' Building has gone through several extensions over the years.