Massive Fire Destroys 4,000 EVMs Used During Recent West Bengal Assembly Elections, Sabotage Suspected
Kolkata, West Bengal: A massive blaze erupted in Kolkata reportedly destroyed around 4,000 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) stored in a a government building in Kolkata on Wednesday. The fire that broke out in the government building at the South 24 Parganas Zilla Parishad office in Alipore destroyed EVMs used in 10 constituencies during West Bengal’s April 2026 assembly elections, which ended TMC’s decades-long rule, paving the way for the BJP’s victory in the state.
Fire Minister Koushik Chowdhury noted the fire skipped middle floors to hit the upper stories holding the machines, raising sabotage suspicions and prompting a police probe with forensic tests underway. No lives were lost, but the incident has sparked online talk of election-related motives amid India’s tense politics.
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Apart from 4,000 EVMs were destroyed kept on the eighth and ninth floors, a few government offices, including one linked to the midday meal scheme in schools were also destroyed in the fire.
Reports of 1000’s of EVM burnt in a Govt building fire in Kolkata raises serious questions on the Bengal Elections 2026, after the expose on Rajarhat Newtown constituency Vote Chori.
pic.twitter.com/RPIcYofLUn— Kamru Choudhury (@Kamru_Choudhury) June 12, 2026
Police have registered an FIR and an investigation has been initiated.
