A report by Sangbad Pratidin says a stampede at Chorbagan during Saturday evening’s Durga Puja crowds left 19 people dead, after rain and congestion overwhelmed crowd-control arrangements. The report attributes the explanation to a senior state-level statement issued from Bhabanipur Bhavan on Sunday, but contains an unresolved inconsistency over the identity and office of the official quoted, meaning the central account requires verification before it can be treated as established fact.
According to the report, the incident took place on the first evening of Mahasaptami, when heavy rain combined with a large gathering near a puja pandal. It says temporary home guards assigned to manage the crowd allegedly released a rope barrier and moved indoors to avoid getting wet. The report claims that this contributed to confusion and a subsequent stampede.
The account also attributes remarks to Suvendu Adhikari, who is identified in the source as the chief minister. That identification is internally inconsistent and must be checked against an official statement, government release or other primary document. The reported remarks include a promise of action and criticism of the temporary personnel responsible for crowd management. The source also says the comments referred indirectly to appointments made during the previous Trinamool Congress government, although it does not provide documentary evidence for that claim.
The reported sequence highlights the operational risks around Kolkata’s large seasonal gatherings. Temporary barriers, rain protection, entry lanes and trained personnel form the basic infrastructure of crowd management, but the source does not establish how many officers were deployed, whether a written crowd-control plan was in force, how emergency exits were arranged, or whether a formal inquiry has been opened.
The report says the state has responded by deciding to withdraw VIP passes at major puja pandals. Under the reported arrangement, visitors would enter through a single line rather than separate access routes. The source attributes the decision to a meeting at Bhabanipur Bhavan and presents it as a response to lessons from the Chorbagan incident. The precise order, its scope and the authorities responsible for enforcing it remain to be independently confirmed.
The report further says that a state-sponsored Bijoya Sammilani scheduled for the 26th will be scaled down. It states that puja committees will be invited, tributes will be paid to those reported dead and financial assistance will be handed to injured people. The source does not specify the amount of assistance, the number of injured people or the mechanism through which payments will be made.
The reported death toll, the circumstances of the crowd movement and the official responsibility for the safety arrangements should therefore be verified through police records, hospital or district administration data, and an authenticated government statement. Until those records are available, the account remains a significant but not fully verified report of a major public-safety incident.
