Kolkata Durga Puja Stampede: 19 Dead, Seven Arrested Including Pandal Organisers
In a stampede at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata on Saturday evening (October 17), at least 19 people lost their lives and around 25 were injured. Police have arrested seven individuals including members of the organising committee as investigations continue into the events that led to the tragedy, crowd management and security measures.
The incident took place at about 7.40 pm in the midst of heavy rain and a big crowd of devotees. The pandal, which falls under Girish Park police station, was then closed to visitors.
Seven arrested as police investigate stampede
According to sources, Raj Kumar Sewda, secretary of puja committee, and vice-president of the puja committee Santanu Dubey are among the seven arrested. Others are those involved in building including the bamboo structure, Biplab Mukherjee, crowd-control staff Koushik Saha and Pintu Dey, private security supervisors Suman Chakraborty and Rajesh Pal.
Police also arrested several individuals, such as organisers and security staff, for questioning. Lapses in crowd management and security at the arena are being investigated.
The Kolkata Police has also filed a suo motu case of culpable homicide not resulting in murder. The incident is being investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the site is being investigated by forensic teams.
The heavy rain and crowd surge may have caused panic at the event.
Heavy rainfall and crowding, confusion over the exit and entry routes may have been responsible for the stampede, preliminary reports say.
The organisers’ announcement over the loudspeaker of the event may have caused a rush among the visitors, says West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. Details of the announcement are being reviewed and the circumstances are being investigated.
The chief minister also alleged that whistles blown by private security guards helped the crowd move around faster, as family members of two victims said.
The witnesses said they saw scenes of chaos, with some people going unconscious during the chaos. Emergency crews were not yet in the area when some of the injured visitors were apparently driven off on motorcycles.
Narrow entry/exit gates and poor lighting were concerns raised by other witnesses. Visitors and locals have been interviewed to determine the events of the crime.
Chief Minister Announces Compensation And Probe
Adhikari went to the hospital and met the injured and announced the setting up of an SIT headed by a sitting judge of the Calcutta High Court to probe into the tragedy.
He will also write to the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court requesting a committee to conduct a fact investigation including the presence of the Special Task Force and forensic teams.
The government of West Bengal announced compensation of ₹25 lakh and government job for the family of each person who died. The injured will be given ₹5 lakh and their medical costs will be borne by the state government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh to the next of kin of every deceased victim from PM’s National Relief Fund. Those injured will receive ₹50,000 each.
The state government has also established a toll-free helpline (18003455678) for the victims.
Amit Shah Cancels Scheduled Bengal Programmes
Union Home Minister Amit Shah offered condolences to the families of those killed and informed the Chief Minister about the situation in this regard. He had to postpone his programmes in West Bengal on Sunday to attend to the wounded.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Governor RN Ravi, ex chief minister Mamata Banerjee also expressed grief at the loss of life and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
The Trinamool Congress raised questions over the deployment of police, ambulance and crowd management at the venue, saying the deployment was reported to be inadequate and authorities must be held accountable.
Chorbagan Pandal After Tragedy
The theme of the 91st year-long Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja was ‘AROB’ which is a Bengali term meaning away from noise and sound.
The presentation of the Pandal showed the Goddess Durga and her children in meditation, where the organisers wanted to instill peace and tranquility in the time of war and enmity in the world.
After the stampede, the pandal was also closed to the public. Additionally, authorities also made an appeal to other Durga Puja organisers to take adequate measures to ensure proper lighting, entry-exit points and effective crowd-control.
The investigation will continue to pinpoint the exact cause of the stampede and see if there were any lapses in safety related to life loss.