Suvendu Adhikari visits fire affected warehouse, says many are still missing

Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Thursday (January 29, 2026) visited Nazirabad, where a fire in a warehouse claimed the lives of 21 persons, and several persons are still missing.

Mr. Adhikari, who was accompanied by BJP legislators, said that when he reached the area, he found that Section 163(2) BNSS was issued, banning assembly of five or more persons within a 100-metre radius of the incident site. The LOP said that he, along with others, did not enter the area 100 metres from the accident side. “We all obey the law. We are MLAs. We are law-abiding people,” he said.

“This draconian order is nothing but a shameless, targeted conspiracy to block me from visiting the area, meeting grieving families, consoling victims, and leading a peaceful protest march against TMC’s criminal negligence,” Mr. Adhikari said.

The BJP leader raised questions as to why Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did not visit the accident site. “The Chief Minister has not followed her Raj Dharma. Her house is within 10 km from here, and she should have come,” Mr. Adhikari said. The LOP said that more than 20 people are still missing, and he fears that the death toll could rise to 40.

During the day, the Calcutta High Court allowed permission to the Leader of the Opposition to take out a procession against the warehouse fire incident. The Court fixed the route of the procession and directed that the names of the organisers of the procession will have to be informed to the administration by 7 p.m. on Thursday (January 29, 2026).

A massive fire had broken out at a warehouse in the Nazirabad area of Anandapur in the early hours of January 26. Several workers were trapped inside the warehouse, and the fire continued to rage for 36 hours till the afternoon of January 27.

Two warehouses located on the premises were gutted down in the fire, one was of a local decorator, and the other was a food chain. The police on Wednesday (January 28) arrested the owner of a warehouse, Gangadhar Das.

Senior officials of the West Bengal Fire Department have also pointed out that there was no fire license and no fire safety arrangements at the warehouse. Questions have also been raised as to how the warehouse could operate in the ecologically sensitive area of East Kolkata Wetlands, which is also Ramsar Site.