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| A farmhouse on fire at Vedic Village. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta |
Calcutta, Aug. 24 : A mob of 700 torched the Vedic Village luxury resort on the city’s outskirts this afternoon as violence spilled over from a nearby football ground, where a teenaged fan had just been shot dead.
The mob invaded the resort off Rajarhat Main Road around 4.30pm, chasing the gang that had fired and hurled bombs at the Sikharpur playground, killing local boy Alam, 19.
As the 50-odd guests looked on horrified, the raiders torched three guests’ cars and several resort properties, the fire spreading fast through the largely bamboo-and-straw structures.
“The entire 5,000sqft clubhouse — which includes the reception, gaming room, library and two conference halls — and some farmhouses were razed,” said M.J. Robertson, executive director and CEO of Vedic Village Resorts.
“I was enjoying a cup of tea with my wife. Suddenly, there was a lot of noise and then I saw the girls rushing out of the spa. I sensed something was wrong and started packing our stuff,” said Sandeep Shah, city-based businessman.
A police officer said the gang that had attacked the playground — after a disputed offside in the semi-finals of a day-long tournament — was led by local land dealer Gaffar Mollah. Chased by the mob, the gunmen rushed inside the resort, triggering an hour and a half’s mayhem.
A police team arrived around 5.15 but was vastly outnumbered. “But all our guests are safe; they were evacuated through the back gate,” Robertson said.
The attack is the first on the hospitality industry in the city. The first flames were spotted from the clubhouse around 5.30pm. It took 10 fire engines over four hours to douse the flames after they arrived at 7.30pm.
Robertson said it would take a while to assess the devastation on the 150-acre compound, and that restoration was “unlikely” before the Pujas.
The resort with an ethnic ambience, owned by city-based Vedic Realty, had hosted Aishwarya Rai Bachchan between February 16 and March 10 while she was shooting for Mani Ratnam’s Raavan. Husband Abhishek had joined her for a brief period towards the end of the shooting schedule.
Local people said the trouble started at Sikharpur Adarsha Shakti Sangha ground, a few hundred metres from the resort, around 3.30pm during a match between a local club and a team sponsored by Gaffar and a Vedic Village employee.
“We have a nice relationship with local people and we sponsor several events in the area,” Robertson said. “But I don’t know whether we had any connection with the tournament.”
Gaffar and his players protested an offside decision violently, said Utpal Bhowmick, a Sikharpur resident. “They assaulted the referee. The match resumed after 10 minutes but Gaffar’s team lost. He told the organisers he would teach them a lesson.”
Gaffar returned 20 minutes later in a Maruti Omni, accompanied by 15-20 people on motorbikes, their faces covered.
“The villagers told us the gang lobbed a few bombs into the field and then began firing. A spectator died of bullet injury and three people suffered splinter injuries,” said S.N. Gupta, deputy inspector-general (presidency range).
The police have identified three of the shooters, arrested 10 people for damaging the resort’s property, and are looking for Gaffar and three associates: Ranjit, Goutam and Khokon.
“Gaffar is a land shark and is close to Vedic Village authorities. We want the police to investigate his land deals with the resort authorities,” a local farmer said.
The resort management distanced itself from Gaffar. “He is a land dealer; he is not connected with us,” Robertson said.