Kolkata Durga immersion security has been strengthened, with the West Bengal Police assigning 18 IPS officers to supervise idol immersion operations in Kolkata, Howrah, Barrackpore and Chandannagar from October 21 to 24. The deployment comes days after 19 visitors were reported killed in a stampede at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata.
The state police issued a notification on Tuesday listing the officers assigned to each city and the dates of their duty. Twelve IPS officers will supervise immersion arrangements within the Kolkata Police area, while six others will be deployed across Howrah, Barrackpore and Chandannagar, with two officers assigned to each police jurisdiction.
In the Kolkata Police area, Gaurav Sharma, Soma Das Mitra, Rashid Munir Khan, Akash Magharia, Sureshkumar Chadive and Dhritiman Sarkar will oversee operations on October 21 and 23. Praveenkumar Tripathi, Imran Wahab, Sheesh Ram Jhajharia, Soumya Roy, Parijat Biswas and Siddharth Dhapola will be responsible for supervision on October 22 and 24.
In Howrah, Indra Chakraborty has been assigned for October 21 and 23, while Avaru Ravindranath will be on duty on October 22 and 24. Palashchandra Dhali and Dyutiman Bhattacharya have been assigned to the Barrackpore Police district. Abhijit Bandyopadhyay and Sandip Mondal will supervise arrangements in Chandannagar.
The enhanced deployment follows the October 17 incident at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal, where 19 visitors reportedly died in a stampede. According to eyewitness claims cited in the report, sudden rain triggered panic and crowd movement at the venue. Organisers have also faced allegations that a false announcement intensified the confusion.
The Kolkata Police has formed a special investigation team to examine the incident, and six people have been arrested in connection with it, according to the report. Since the incident, the administration has increased monitoring at popular puja pandals in Kolkata and adjoining areas and made additional crowd-control arrangements.
The immersion period is expected to involve movement of idol processions and large gatherings across multiple urban jurisdictions. The decision to place IPS-rank officers directly in charge of supervision indicates that the state is treating the operation as a coordinated public-safety exercise rather than as a routine local policing responsibility. The notification specifies individual officers and duty dates, allowing supervision to be distributed across the four-day immersion schedule.
The state police notification covers immersion activity beginning on October 21, the day of Dashami, and continuing through October 24. Further operational details on route management, crowd limits or additional traffic arrangements were not provided in the source report.
