Kolkata stampede: Accused sent to 10-day custody, officials suspended as blame game erupts after Chorbagan tragedy

At least 19 people were killed and 25 were injured in a stampede at a prominent puja pandal in central Kolkata on Saturday evening.

While police arrested seven persons and booked them under sections dealing with culpable homicide not amounting murder, West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said that the state government would set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a sitting judge of the Calcutta high court to probe into the incident.

Also read: Rain, a rush and a mic warning: The chain of events behind Kolkata’s Durga Puja stampede that killed 19

“The chief secretary will write to the Chief Justice of the Calcutta high court in this regard. It is up to the Chief Justice whether he allows a sitting judge to head the SIT. Else we will appoint a retired judge of the Calcutta high court to head the SIT,” Adhikari said.

CM announces ex-gratia relief

The chief minister announced government job and ex-gratia of ₹25 lakh for the next of kin of each of those who were killed in the accident. The injured would be given ₹5 lakh each and the state would bear their medical expenses.

Also read: 'There was no way out': Families mourn loss of loved ones in Durga Puja stampede that killed 19

Union home minister Amit Shah, who had come to Kolkata on Saturday, cancelled all his puja-related programmes and visited the injured at the hospital. Of the 25 injured, two were admitted in the ICU with fractures.

“I will try to visit the families who have lost their members on October 20 and 21,” Adhikari said. Later in day the chief minister held a high-level meeting with senior police officials and bureaucrats across the state to take stock of the security arrangements in big-ticket pujas. He also monitored crowd and traffic management in Kolkata and other cities in the state from the police control rooms.

A committee headed by the state disaster management secretary and comprising officers from fire department and Special Task Force will visit the prominent pujas in Kolkata and make recommendations whether any rectifications need to be made.

“If needed crowd will be restricted. There will be no separate queues for VIPs. We will do whatever it takes,” he said.

Meanwhile, preliminary probe by the police revealed that an announcement by the puja organisers on Saturday evening that the Chorebagan pandal could collapse while urging people to vacate the pandal triggered the stampede.

Also read: ‘Pandal will collapse, please leave’: Warning over mic set off Kolkata stampede, 19 dead

The pandal which received an award from state government was registering heavy footfall over the past few days. On Saptami too thousands had thronged the pandal.

“As rain hit pandal hoppers tried to take shelter inside the pandal. Those inside the pandal refused to go out. People also started to push in from the exit resulting in the chaos which ultimately the stampede started,” said a local resident.

Row after Chorbagan stampede

Allegations surfaced that there were not enough police at the scene, cops didn’t help the victims, there was no ambulance and locals had to book app cabs to help victims reach the hospital.

"Who made these allegations? The victims, whom I spoke to at the hospital, gave a different version. They said the police helped them and booked cabs to send them to the hospital. The allegations are mainly against some home guards recruited two years back (during the previous government). Some of them don't even know Bengali and have a language barrier. I have asked for a list of the homeguards," Adhikari said.

Also read: SIT headed by sitting judge to probe Kolkata pandal stampede; CM announces ₹25 lakh aid, government job

The Mamata All India Trinamool Congress aggressively targeted the government with spokesperson and Kolkata MLA Kunal Ghosh focusing on the fact that old members of the Chorebagan puja committee stepped down after the BJP came to power in May.

Ritesh Tiwari, state BJP spokesperson and MLA from Kolkata's Kashipur-Belgachhia constituency, defended his colleagues.

"For decades, TMC MLAs and ministers such as Partha Chatterjee, Aroop Biswas and Firhad Hakim have been closely associated with community Durga Pujas. Before that, veteran Congress leader Somem Mitra was also associated with pujas. What is wrong if some BJP leaders are associated with some pujas? The chief minister has ordered a probe and the police have arrested several people," Tiwari said.