Bidhannagar police urge Salt Lake homeowners to submit tenants’ details

KOLKATA: The Bidhannagar police on Sunday sought cooperation from the residents of Salt Lake and requested them to submit the details of tenants and paying guests staying in rented accommodations and guest houses.

A meeting between the cops and the representatives of nine block committees in Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) board of administrators chairperson Krishna Chakraborty’s own ward (29) was held at the BJ Block community hall on Sunday. Several security issues were discussed at the meeting.

Chakraborty said that the initiative was taken from her ward while other wards in Salt Lake would also hold such meetings soon. “There are several houses where elderly people live alone. So, there should be a robust security arrangement for them. There is a need to check who are coming and living in the guest houses and we are urging the residents to submit the Aadhaar card and other related documents of the tenants and paying guests with the police and BMC,” said Chakraborty.

Cops said that there have been some lapses in security issues on the part of resident welfare associations as was noticed during the probe into Sukhobristi shootout case. “We are sending forms and requesting residents to submit with us the detail information about the tenants and paying guests. To identify a suspected criminal, we need proper information. This will not be possible for us without the cooperation of the residents,” said Bidhannagar police commissioner Supratim Sarkar.

BMC officials said that several such guest houses have come up in Salt Lake without informing the civic authorities who are in the dark regarding how many such guest houses are operating without trade licence.

The representatives of block committees, who attended the meeting, said that despite the guest house menace in Salt Lake increasing day by day, no significant step has been taken so far to keep the rented accommodations under scanner. They also said that the incident at Shukhobristi housing in New Town was an eye opener for Salt Lake residents as one of the guest houses at CL block was raided by cops recently in connection with the case.

“The administration needs to check and have strict vigilance on every guest house. If the guest house is not commercial or does not have valid documents, it should be shut,” one of the residents suggested.

Other issues that were discussed at the meeting included the need to keep tabs on the parks in the township to curb anti-social activities.

“Apart from the guest houses, another concern is illegal parking. Since the Sector V Metro station is set to be one of the busiest stations in the near future, there should be a permanent police kiosk for the help and safety of the residents of DL, CL and BL blocks,” said CK-CL block committee assistant secretary Dipankar Mitra.