The owner of the Khardah pond which was partially filled up illegally on Friday night has been asked to scoop out the sand and soil dumped into the water at the earliest.

"The owner of the pond has been identified as Naresh Sarkar. We have asked him to remove as soon as possible the sand and the soil that were used to fill up a part of the pond," Tapas Paul, chairman of the Trinamul-run Khardah municipality, said on Monday.

"A complaint against Sarkar has been lodged with the office of the block land and land reforms officer (BLLRO)."

The pond, in ward 7 of Khardah municipality, is spread across 20 cottahs. Metro reported on Monday that a third of the pond had been filled up, allegedly at the instance of a section of Trinamul leaders, with sand and soil ferried to the locality in trucks throughout Friday night.

The landfill came to a halt on Saturday afternoon following intervention by the police, who were alerted by another section of local leaders of the ruling party.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has recently issued a diktat against filling up of water bodies.

Bijit Dhar, additional district magistrate, land and land reforms, said: "I have come to know about the landfill. I have asked the BLLRO concerned to conduct an inquiry. If the BLLRO finds the landfill was illegal, he will lodge an FIR."

Residents alleged that local councillor Sayan Majumdar, of the Trinamul, was aware of the landfill. Paul, however, has given Majumdar a clean chit.

"He (Majumdar) was in the dark as the sand and soil (used for the landfill) were brought in the middle of night," Paul had said on Sunday.

Ward 7 residents found it difficult to believe. "Trucks laden with sand and soil were entering the neighbourhood throughout the night and the local councillor was unaware of it. Will anyone believe it?" wondered a resident who refused to be named.

Metro called Majumdar several times on his cell phone but he did not answer.

When asked whether the supplier of the sand and the soil had been identified, Paul said: "We are yet to find out."

A local Trinamul leader had on Sunday alleged that Kanauj Das Roy, finance minister and local MLA Amit Mitra's secretary, had given Majumdar the go-ahead for the landfill. The allegation could not be verified.

On Monday, Kanauj said: "I deal with non-political issues, like drinking water problems and health affairs. I don't know where the pond is located. I was not involved in the landfill."