Kolkata Durga idol immersion operations will be supervised by 18 IPS officers across four West Bengal cities from October 21 to 24, according to a state police notification reported by Anandabazar. Twelve of the officers have been assigned to Kolkata, while Howrah, Barrackpore and Chandannagar will receive two officers each.
The deployment covers immersion activity from Dashami on October 21 through October 24. The police notification has divided responsibilities by city, date and officer, placing senior police officers directly in charge of monitoring the process during the period when large crowds are expected to gather near puja venues, roads and immersion points.
In Kolkata Police areas, Gaurav Sharma, Soma Das Mitra, Rashid Munir Khan, Akash Magharia, Sureshkumar Chadive and Dhritiman Sarkar will supervise immersion arrangements on October 21 and 23. Praveen Kumar Tripathi, Imran Wahab, Sheesh Ram Jhajharia, Soumya Roy, Parijat Biswas and Siddharth Dhapola will be responsible on October 22 and 24.
In Howrah Police district, Indra Chakraborty has been assigned to October 21 and 23, while Avaru Ravindranath will oversee operations on October 22 and 24. Palash Chandra Dhali and Dyutiman Bhattacharya have been assigned to Barrackpore. Abhijit Banerjee and Sandip Mondal will supervise arrangements in Chandannagar.
The heightened deployment follows a crowd incident at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata on October 17, when 19 visitors died in a stampede, according to the report. Witnesses cited by Anandabazar said sudden rain triggered panic and disorder among the crowd. Organisers have also faced allegations that a false announcement contributed to the confusion.
Kolkata Police has formed a special investigation team to examine that incident, and six people have been arrested, the report said. Following the deaths, additional surveillance has been introduced at popular pandals in Kolkata and adjoining areas, with extra crowd-control arrangements being put in place.
The four-city immersion supervision plan extends that heightened administrative response to the next major public gathering phase of the festival. The police deployment will cover Kolkata as well as three urban areas with concentrated Durga Puja activity: Howrah, Barrackpore and Chandannagar. The notification does not specify the number of additional personnel, traffic restrictions or immersion routes to be used in each area.
The assigned IPS officers are expected to monitor the arrangements during the four-day immersion period. The police notification, as reported, sets out the officers and their duty dates but does not provide further operational details about the arrangements at individual immersion sites.
