This came to light after The Indian Express filed a query with the state home department under the Right to Information Act. The number of VIPs living in the area was sought. So was the amount of money the government spends on their security.

A letter from Superintendent of Police, North 24 Parganas district, under which Salt Lake falls, read: “The total number of VIPs staying at Salt Lake is 18, who are given round the clock protection by the state police and the total annual cost for the force deployed for the security purpose of the VIPs residing under Bidhannagar sub-division comes roughly to

Rs 1, 36, 06, 248.”

The VIPs include former chief minister Jyoti Basu, finance minister Asim Dasgupta, former Army chief General Shankar Roy Choudhury, Chandan Basu, son of Jyoti Basu and Chandan's former wife Dolly Basu.

In the last 45 days, Salt Lake has witnessed 33 robberies, which cost the residents lakhs of rupees in cash and jewellery. On Sunday, a meeting took place between the police and the citizens to find out a way out of the crisis. The police, however, did not comment on the VIP security. Jogesh Chattopadhyay, IG, headquarters, state police told The Indian Express: “There is a dearth of policemen there and we don't have a strong infrastructure either. Also, Salt Lake is located at such a place that criminals can sneak in and run away after committing the crime very easily.”