Kolkata: One arrested for 'conspiring' to set Writer's building on fire

Kolkata: The Kolkata police today arrested one person in connection with the alleged conspiracy to set on fire the Writers’ Buildings, state secretariat, which is undergoing a major renovation. Jyotirmoy Nandi, who was arrested late last night, was interrogated today and produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court here, which remanded him to police custody till 6 December. [caption id=“attachment_1260831” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A file photo of the Writer’s Building in Kolkata. AFP[/caption] Nandi’s arrest followed interrogation of four persons detained earlier in connection with the alleged conspiracy. The four, mostly government employees, were released today from detention. The police quoted Nandi as having told interrogators that he had been engaged by a pest control agency to work in the Writers’ Buildings and that while he was working, some excess kerosene for use with pesticide spilt onto some files and documents accidentally. He had no intention to set the building on fire, Nandi insisted. His interrogation also revealed that he had free access to the secretariat. Fingerprint experts were requisitioned as part of the investigation. An alarm was raised by a police constable on Friday after finding files and books doused with kerosene lying in the Home Department’s publication office on the G-block of the building’s top floor. PTI