Reliance resumes work to reopen Uttarpara retail store

Work resumed at the Reliance retail outlet in Uttarpara, which was earlier damaged by Trinamool activists, on Thursday, though without police posting on the site due to lack of police force at the nearby police station.

Earlier this week, officials from Reliance retail had visited the site and confirmed that the outlet would be operational within the next two months, said Arindam Chaudhury, the owner of the property that would house the outlet.

Meanwhile, the police have not yet succeeded in arresting Tapas Mukherjee, the Trinamool Congress councillor at Hooghly's Uttarpara-Kotrang municipality, who was involved in damaging the store last month.

Work was subsequently suspended in the store.

According to Prabir Roy, inspector-in-charge of Uttarpara police station, the police are still in the process of collecting evidence against Mukherjee.

"Even though we have not posted the police on a permanent basis in the store, our men are patrolling in the area and we are ready to tackle violence," he said.

In absence of proper police protection, work resumed in the store with closed shutters.

Trinamool flags and posters continue to cover the store premises, and any effort to remove them would further delay the opening of the store, said Chaudhury.

The police have not taken any initiative to remove the flags, even though the chief minister had earlier assured of adequate police protection to Reliance store.

The opening of the store had been delayed by more than two months, and Chaudhury was not sure about the format of the store.

"Reliance has not yet conveyed their decision about the store format they are going to adopt. They might start the store without any farm products initially," he said.

The 4,000- square feet store will have a separate 400 square feet area for selling meat products.

A diesel power generating machine needed to run the refrigeration unit to keep fruits and vegetables fresh had been brought to the store.