Portions of a brick wall on the ground floor of the Indian Coffee House off College Street have been demolished, allegedly by a new owner of a part of the ground floor for renovating the space he purchased last year.

On Wednesday, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) issued a stop-work notice to the owner and filed a complaint with Amherst Street police station.

Members of an association formed by regulars at the cafe were the first to notice the demolition on Sunday.

“Some people noticed the demolition work on Sunday and immediately informed the police. The police arrived soon and stopped the work,” said Achintya Kumar Laha, secretary of the Coffee House Social Service Association.

“We filed a complaint with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation on Wednesday,” said Laha.

A KMC official said they issued a stop-work notice on Wednesday afternoon.

“We have issued a stop-work notice and also filed a police complaint against the owners who partially demolished the brick wall,” said a senior KMC engineer.

The Indian Coffee House on 15 Bankim Chatterjee Street is listed as a Grade I heritage building in the Graded List of Heritage Buildings published by the KMC. The Graded List mentions that “no external change will be permissible” in a Grade I structure.

“Use of the building should also be compatible with the category of the heritage building,” it adds.

The Coffee House is listed as a “public institution”.

“Chuckervertty, Chatterjee and Co Ltd left the space on the ground floor in December. The new owner was redoing the space and demolished portions of the pillars. The partial demolition has been done in three portions of the building,” said Laha.

The iconic bookstore occupied a portion of Coffee House’s western side, facing Presidency University, erstwhile Presidency College.

A senior KMC official said the commissioner of the KMC has sought a full report from the building department of the civic body.

“The new owners of the space did not obtain permission from the KMC before the revamp. It is a heritage building, and any work there needs to have a nod from the heritage conservation committee of the corporation,” said the senior KMC engineer.