"Even now, his body hasn't been found. I go to the police station every day," laments 48-year-old Govind Ghosh.
Ghosh's son-in law Pankaj Haldar, a 27-year-old Wow! Momo employee, was among those who perished in the devastating fire that engulfed two warehouses in Kolkata's Anandapur area on 26 January, even as the rest of the nation was geared to observe Republic Day.
Speaking to The Quint from his home in Garia on the outskirts of Kolkata, a distraught Ghosh questions the very set-up of the facility.
"It was a warehouse, not a factory. Only momo packets, soft drinks, and maybe some flour were stored there. My son-in-law was the store manager—trucks would come at night to pick up goods. There's no reason for a fire to start there."
Ghosh pointed his fingers at an adjacent decorator's godown, citing "lots of waste materials" as the likely source, and raised broader concerns about regulatory lapses.
"This area is a wetland. They don't even provide electricity here, yet at least 100 other factories are operating nearby with power connections. How is that possible? What is the administration's role in all this?"
'Could Barely Breathe'
Almost 10 days after the blaze tore through the adjoining warehouses, the death toll in Anandapur continues to fluctuate in official reports. So far, authorities have recovered 27 body parts from the site, and DNA testing has been ramped up to identify victims.
The fire, which erupted at around 3 am on 26 January in the Nazirabad locality just outside Kolkata, has claimed at least 21 lives, according to initial estimates from the police and fire services. Some reports, however, suggest higher figures.
What began as a suspected accident in the nearby decorator's godown has snowballed into a storm of alleged negligence, corporate accountability, and sharp political polarisation, leaving families in limbo and citizens as silent spectators.
The fire originated in a warehouse owned by Pushpanjali Decorators, run by Gangadhar Das, where workers from various districts were reportedly engaged in floral and decoration work.
Eyewitness Sushant Jana, 35, from Haridaspur village in Tamluk, who worked at the decorator's facility, recounts the horror.
"We finished eating and went to sleep by 9 or 9:30 pm. Around 3 am, someone woke me up saying the factory was on fire. I got up to find the room pitch dark, filled with smoke—I could barely breathe. Somehow, I escaped from there. About four of us managed to get out."
Jana adds that the fire started near the back gate toward the cattle shed, where the kitchen was located. When asked about fire safety measures, he says, "There were no such arrangements."
Many victims were asleep at the time, having stayed overnight after completing shifts. The fire quickly spread to the neighbouring godown operated by Wow! Momo, the popular food chain, turning the site into an inferno that required 16 fire engines and over 36 hours to fully control.
Local residents alerted authorities after spotting the flames, but the locked gates and lack of immediate escape routes allegedly contributed to the high casualty count.
Fluctuating Toll, Families Distraught
Families of the deceased have raised pointed allegations, claiming the warehouse doors were bolted from the outside, trapping workers in a deadly chokehold of smoke and fire.
As of 31 January, police reported 28 people still missing, with forensic teams working overtime on DNA mapping to match recovered remains with blood samples from relatives. Among them, three hail from Medinipur district. Almost all of the kin of missing persons that The Quint spoke with indicated mismanagement, lack of preventive measures, and administrative failure.
Swapan Sau, father of one missing person, voices his frustration, "No one has provided a single pie for transportation. And I don't know if my son is alive or not."
Dayamay Halder, son of missing warehouse worker Basudeb Halder, says, "At least something—a wristwatch, a piece of cloth—that is what I am waiting for to confirm my father's death."
Baruipur Police have formed a Special Investigative Team (SIT) to probe safety violations. Baruipur Police District Superintendent Shubhendra Kumar tells The Quint, "We're expediting the process to hand over the remains to families as soon as identifications are confirmed."
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has also taken suo motu cognisance of the incident.
Migrant Safety Under Scanner Yet Again
Yet, the exact death toll remains elusive—a gap that underscores the challenges in post-disaster accountability.
Coming weeks after outrage over a massive fire at a Goa nightclub claiming lives of several migrant workers, the incident itself and the subsequent delay in pinning down a definitive number of casualties indicate a systemic failure in record-keeping for migrant workers in such facilities.
In the investigation's latest progress, police have arrested three individuals. Das, the decorator's owner, was apprehended late on 27 January after going underground following the incident. An FIR was lodged against him at Narendrapur Police Station. On 30 January, Wow! Momo's warehouse manager Manoranjan Sheet and deputy manager Raja Chakraborty were detained in Narendrapur and remanded to five days of police custody by the Baruipur sub-divisional court.
Authorities are probing potential lapses in fire safety protocols, including the presence of fire extinguishers and emergency exits.
Wow! Momo, however, claims the fire started due to "unauthorised cooking" in the decorator's godown—a claim seemingly bolstered by early forensic reports indicating no inflammable materials in their warehouse. The company issued a statement 60 hours after the incident, expressing grief over the loss of two employees and one contracted security guard, while pledging cooperation with investigators.
Compensations Sans Accountability
Compensation announcements have poured in post the tragedy.
Wow! Momo committed Rs 10 lakh each to the families of their three deceased staffers, along with lifetime monthly salaries and educational support for their children. The West Bengal government, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has promised Rs 10 lakh per family and civic jobs for the kin.
Speaking at a rally in Singur on 28 January, Banerjee said, "We have lost friends in this private company fire. I've sent ministers to handle it, and instructed police to provide jobs to family members."
Reiterating the state's apparently hands-on approach, Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim, who visited the site, said, "Two ministers were on ground from day one, overseeing rescue. Forensic experts will probe further, and DNA tests will identify victims."
Fire Services Minister Sujit Bose defended the response, calling the incident "deeply tragic" but highlighting the department's prompt action. "Our teams were ready and reached quickly," he said, while urging business owners to share responsibility for safety.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, expressed condolences on 30 January, announcing Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund for each deceased's family and Rs 50,000 for the injured.
With Assembly elections knocking the door, the tragedy has ignited a fierce political firestorm.
Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led a rally demanding the fire minister's resignation and accused the ruling Trinamool Congress government of bias.
"Section 163 was imposed to stop the BJP. The chief minister's house is just 10 km away, but she went to tea parties and rallies instead. These victims are all Hindus... this government is for others."Suvendu Adhikari
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, addressing party workers in Barrackpore on 31 January, indicated a nexus. "This isn't an accident – 25 dead, and the Wow! Momo owner travels abroad with whom? Why no arrest yet?"
To curb potential unrest, the Baruipur administration imposed Section 163 (formerly 144) in a 100-meter radius around Nazirabad from the afternoon of 28 January, banning gatherings of five or more, until 30 March or further notice.
In this context, essential questions loom large among locals.
Why were workers allowed to sleep in warehouses not designed as dormitories?
Did both facilities comply with fire safety norms, and if not, who overlooked the inspections?
How did unauthorised cooking go unchecked?
And amid the blame-shifting, when will a full inquiry reveal the root causes to prevent future horrors?
Why has the Chief Minister not visited the spot yet?
Investigations continue, with a forensic team dissecting the site. For now, the Anandapur fire stands as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities in Kolkata's industrial fringes, where lives hang precariously between profit and precaution. Families await closure but will they get justice?
Nobody knows.
(Arka Deb is an independent journalist covering news and politics from Kolkata, West Bengal.)