The Kolkata stampede at a Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata has killed 19 people and injured 25, prompting seven arrests, a culpable homicide case and a state-appointed special investigation team (SIT) to examine alleged failures in crowd management and security arrangements.
The arrested people include Raj Kumar Sewda, also known as Raja, the secretary of the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durgotsab Samity, and its vice-president Santanu Dubey. Police also arrested Biplab Mukherjee, who was involved in constructing the bamboo structure at the pandal; Koushik Saha, responsible for crowd control and checking VIP passes; Pintu Dey, who was engaged in crowd management; and private security in-charges Suman Chakraborty and Rajesh Pal.
Kolkata Police registered a suo motu case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder at Girish Park police station. The case has been filed under Sections 105, 110 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against the organisers and others. A forensic team visited the site, while investigators began questioning puja committee members, security personnel and police officers to establish the sequence of events.
The inquiry will examine the movement of visitors inside the pandal, the arrangements for entry and exit, the role of the organisers and private security personnel, and the circumstances surrounding an announcement and whistle-blowing shortly before the stampede. Authorities have not yet established a final cause for the incident.
West Bengal minister Umesh Rai, who visited injured people at Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, said the SIT would investigate the circumstances and identify those responsible for any negligence. “This is a very tragic accident. The chief minister had called for action against those responsible yesterday. We are forming an SIT, which will investigate the entire incident and the circumstances in which it occurred,” Rai said.
According to Rai’s preliminary account, the pandal had recorded heavy footfall over several days. When rain began, a large number of visitors moved inside to take shelter, while people already inside attempted to leave. The situation worsened as visitors continued entering from one side while others tried to exit from the other.
Rai said the pandal’s dark interiors, which formed part of its themed design, added to the difficulty, although he said darkness alone did not cause the stampede. He alleged that the puja organisers and the security agency responsible for crowd management had failed to discharge their duties. The SIT will investigate those alleged lapses.
Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said preliminary information from the assistant commissioner of police present at the site suggested that an announcement by a private security agency and the blowing of whistles may have triggered the incident. He said puja committee members and security agency personnel had been detained for questioning and assured that the investigation would be conducted transparently.
“As a chief minister, I can’t give a statement before the investigation is over, but I assure that proper investigation will be done with full transparency. The puja committee members and the security agencies have been detained. All kind of support will be provided to all families. This is a very, very sad incident,” Adhikari said.
The incident has raised immediate concerns about the management of large public gatherings in temporary festival structures, particularly when rain causes visitors to change movement patterns rapidly. Rai appealed to Durga Puja organisers across West Bengal to review their crowd-control plans, increase the number of entry and exit gates and ensure adequate lighting at crowded pandals with poorly lit interiors.
With celebrations scheduled to continue for another three to four days, Rai asked organisers to take immediate steps to prevent overcrowding. “We want Durga Puja to be celebrated and for people to enjoy themselves, but it is essential that no accidents occur. The organisers of the Durga Puja celebrations must keep this in mind,” he said.
Rai also appealed to political parties not to politicise the tragedy and said the priority should be to assist the injured and support the families of those who died. “In such adverse circumstances, the most significant humanitarian gesture is to stand by those who are injured and the families who have lost their loved ones,” he said.
West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said doctors were hopeful about the recovery of a patient reported to be critical. The patient was being shifted to a private hospital, with medical expenses to be covered, he said. Union home minister Amit Shah’s scheduled programmes in West Bengal on Sunday were cancelled, as was Nitin Nabin’s planned visit. Adhikari also announced the cancellation of all events scheduled for Sunday.
The SIT investigation will now determine how visitors were directed through the pandal, whether the entry and exit arrangements were adequate, and whether the organisers, private security personnel or others failed to meet their responsibilities.
