Union Home Minister Amit Shah cancelled his scheduled visits to several Durga Puja pandals in Kolkata after a stampede at the Chorbagaon Sarbojanin Puja claimed 19 lives and left several people injured, according to a report by Sangbad Pratidin. Shah is expected to visit the injured in hospital after offering prayers at the Kalighat temple.
Shah arrived in Kolkata on the night of Mahasaptami as part of a pre-planned programme. His schedule for the following day included visits to multiple Puja pandals across the city. Those engagements were cancelled after news of the Chorbagaon incident emerged.
The incident reportedly took place inside the Puja pandal on the evening of Mahasaptami. The report said 19 people died after being crushed in the crowd, while many others were injured. It did not provide details on the precise cause of the crowd surge, the capacity of the venue, or the emergency arrangements in place at the pandal.
After learning about the incident, Shah expressed his condolences in a post on X, according to the report. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also offered condolences and announced financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh for the family of each deceased person from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.
Shah visited the Kalighat temple on Sunday morning, accompanied by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, West Bengal BJP president Shamik Bhattacharya and other leaders. The report said Shah would later meet the injured at the hospital and could also speak with their family members. Adhikari was also expected to accompany him during the hospital visit.
The cancellation of the political leader’s public programme came as the city continued to manage the aftermath of the crowd disaster. Durga Puja draws large gatherings to Kolkata’s temporary pandals, making crowd movement, entry and exit routes, emergency access and on-site response critical parts of event planning. The supplied report, however, did not specify which agency was responsible for crowd management at the Chorbagaon venue or whether any official inquiry had been announced.
The report also did not provide the names of the deceased, the number of people hospitalised, the condition of those injured or details of the hospitals receiving them. Further information on the incident, the medical treatment of the injured and the next steps by the authorities was awaited.
