Harish Chatterjee Street is no stranger to heavy security deployments, but Tuesday’s arrangements were on an unusually large scale.
Scores of personnel in multiple uniforms cordoned off the entire stretch as onlookers gathered, not for a neighbour they once took pride in, but for the developments unfolding outside the former chief minister's residence.
A large CID team entered the premises around 4.15pm, while another unit remained stationed at the gate, sealing all entry points.
Central forces stood guard with fibreglass shields and lathis, backed by armed personnel carrying automatic rifles and pistols.
A crowd of onlookers at Harish Chatterjee Street during the CID search
Despite the tight security ring, Mamata Banerjee was not present at the residence.
Kolkata Police personnel were deployed along the street, with some taking makeshift seating arrangements from nearby houses.
Whoever was at Harish Chatterjee Street on Tuesday had their eyes on Mamata's residence. Some spoke. Most remained mum.
"I was born in the 1940s, and I have seen this place change gradually," said Pashupati Dutta, who has an electronic repair shop at 30/2A Harish Chatterjee Street. He lives in the same house upstairs.
Bimla Gupta accompanied her granddaughter to her tuition lessons. On other days, she would drop the Class VIII girl and leave. On Tuesday, she waited and watched for a while.
"The action has dried up here. After many days, we are seeing so many people in the area," said the woman.
Despite the heavy police presence and the swell of people, traffic was allowed to enter from both ends of Harish Chatterjee Street. There was no bar on cars, bikes, and autos.
Around 5pm, three middle-aged women from Tollygunge took a detour from their usual evening stroll and came to Kalighat, instead. They sat on the raised threshold outside a house.
"We saw what was happening on television and thought we could come here for a first-hand experience. How the tables have turned... people took benefits while she was the chief minister, but now they have switched allegiance," one of the women said.
A young woman stood outside her home for over an hour, watching developments unfold a few houses away.
"It is not like earlier when Mamata Banerjee was the chief minister. The regular barricades are not there, and the police are not stopping anyone from entering the road. There are only a few policemen here these days. Today, there are many," said Diya Chatterjee, an air hostess who lives a few houses away from Mamata.
Her family has seen Mamata struggle and rise to power. But the need for "change" was on her lips as well.
"She came to our house when my grandfather passed away in 2018. Now she doesn't interact as much for obvious reasons. But nobody can resist change. Change had to happen," said Chatterjee.
What has also changed is how she gives directions to the app cab.
"We were so used to saying 'chief minister er barir rasta (the street of the chief minister's house)'. We try not to, but there are times when there is a slip of tongue," she said.
Among the many were some of the last remaining Mamata loyalists.
Madan Mitra and Kunal Ghosh waited outside while the CID worked. A visibly agitated Kalyan Banerjee was there as well.
Ghosh vouched for his loyalty to Mamata. He said he was on his way to Mamata's house for routine work when he heard about the raid.
"I could have done two things: as CID and the central forces were there, I could have avoided coming here. But because this was happening in my leader's house, I could not turn my back on her," he said.