The arrest of security guard Rajesh Pal in connection with the Chorbagan stampede, in which 19 people were killed at a Kolkata puja pandal, has prompted his parents to seek an impartial investigation and clarity on the circumstances of the case.
Pal, a resident of Bhagwanpur in Goghat, Hooghly district, had travelled to Kolkata to work as a security guard during the puja season. According to Sangbad Pratidin – Bengal, he regularly came to the city during the festive period to supplement his family’s income. His parents said they were distressed after learning that he had been arrested following the incident.
Pal’s father, Jiten Pal, said the family had repeatedly tried to contact him but found his phone switched off. They later learnt about the incident from another person who had travelled to Kolkata for work with Pal. His mother said Pal had sent a photograph to his father at around 1.30 am, after which the family did not know what had happened to him.
The family has questioned why Pal was arrested from a pandal where police security was present. They have appealed for an investigation conducted according to law and asked that the facts of the case be established. Their statements represent the family’s account and do not determine Pal’s role in the incident.
The stampede reportedly occurred on Saturday evening after rain began at around 7.40 pm. The preliminary account cited in the report says the crowd became heavily concentrated near the exit gate of the pandal as people attempted to leave. The gate was narrow and effectively became blocked, increasing pressure inside the venue as several people tried to move out at the same time.
The incident points to the immediate operational risks involved in managing large public gatherings in dense urban settings. Exit width, the separation of entry and exit flows, crowd monitoring, police deployment and the ability to respond quickly to weather-related surges are all central to preventing dangerous pressure points. The report, however, does not provide details of the pandal’s approved capacity, evacuation plan, permissions, security deployment or the responsibilities assigned to individual organisers and guards.
Pal’s arrest is part of a wider police investigation into the deaths. The report said that seven people had been arrested so far, although it did not provide the names of the other accused or specify the charges against them. It also did not state whether the police had publicly released a detailed account of the arrests or the evidence being examined.
For Pal’s family, the immediate demand is that he return home and that the investigation establish what happened at the venue. The next developments will depend on the police investigation and the legal process concerning the seven arrests.
