Kolkata Police have arrested seven people, including office-bearers of the Chorbagan Durga Puja committee, after a stampede at the puja venue killed 19 people. The arrests follow a police investigation into alleged failures in crowd management, safety protocols and structural arrangements at the site.
A suo motu case was registered at Girish Park police station under Sections 105, 110 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Fourteen people were initially detained for questioning before the police confirmed that seven had been arrested.
Additional Commissioner of Police, Crime, Kunal Agarwal, said, “So far 7 have been arrested. Further inquiries are underway.” He also confirmed that the secretary of the puja committee was among those arrested.
The arrested people include Chorbagan Durga Puja committee secretary Raj Kumar Sewda and vice-president Santanu Dubey. The list also includes pandal construction worker Biplab Mukherjee, crowd-control personnel Koushik Saha and Pintu Dey, and private security in-charges Suman Chakraborty and Rajesh Pal.
The composition of the arrests places responsibility for the incident across several functions involved in managing a large public festival: event administration, temporary structure construction, crowd control and private security. Police are questioning the accused over alleged lapses in these areas as investigators work to establish accountability.
The incident has brought the safety arrangements at temporary festival venues into focus. Durga Puja pandals attract large crowds, making access routes, crowd movement, structural safety and coordination between organisers, security staff and authorities critical to the functioning of the event. The police investigation is examining whether failures in these arrangements contributed to the deaths.
The case was initiated by the police on their own motion at Girish Park police station. The investigation remains underway, and the authorities have not disclosed further details about the sequence of events, the specific safety failures under examination or the next legal steps against those arrested.
Kolkata Police said further inquiries are continuing to establish accountability in the stampede that claimed 19 lives.
