Firhad Hakim's OSD Kalicharan Banerjee sent to police custody till July 4

In a swift judicial development following his high-profile arrest, a city court on Friday remanded Kalicharan Banerjee, the influential Controlling Officer within the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), to police custody until July 4, 2026. Popularly referred to as "Kali," Banerjee was formally arrested by the Kolkata Police in connection with a pending 2024 extortion case registered at the Shakespeare Sarani Police Station. The long-standing case gained massive traction overnight amid intense administrative and public scrutiny following the catastrophic structural collapse of an under-construction warehouse in Taratala.

Banerjee's long career inside the KMC has been mired in substantial controversy, particularly concerning his past role as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to former Mayor Firhad Hakim. The 2003-batch civil servant, who once ranked second in the West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) and briefly topped the state police service examination in 2006, rose to prominence after becoming Hakim's personal assistant in 2010. Over the years, political rivals and internal union whistleblowers have repeatedly accused Banerjee of acting as a gatekeeper for lucrative multi-crore civic tenders, manipulation of municipal recruitments, and clearing unauthorized high-rise layouts.

The administrative nexus blew wide open on Thursday after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari brandished a confidential file on the floor of the State Assembly, alleging that no architectural blueprint or structural plan could pass through the KMC without "Kali’s explicit say-so." The political fallout deepened further when ruling party MLA Kunal Ghosh took a sharp swipe at the official's unconstitutional leverage. Ghosh publicly remarked that Banerjee operated virtually as an "Executive Mayor," adding the cryptic warning that pulling the ears would inevitably bring the entire head into the investigative dragnet.

With the court granting extended custodial interrogation until July 4, specialized investigative teams are set to grill Banerjee regarding the technical approvals granted to the collapsed Taratala cold storage facility. Investigators aim to cross-reference seized digital logs and physical sanction files to map out systemic bribery channels that allowed flawed designs to bypass municipal safety oversight. The state administration has maintained an uncompromising stance on the issue, with the Chief Minister reiterating inside the House that no bureaucrat or political handler involved in the building racket will be spared.