Chorbagan stampede: two men held over 'pandal collapsing' announcements, nine arrested

Kolkata Police have arrested two men who they say set off the deadly stampede at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal by announcing over loudspeakers that the structure was collapsing. The arrests take the number of people held in the case to nine.

Nineteen people died in the crush at the north Kolkata pandal on the evening of 17 October, Maha Saptami.

Sanjib Raha, the treasurer of the Chorbagan Durga Puja committee, was detained in Nadia district on Thursday and later arrested. Kushal Majumdar was picked up on Friday. According to police sources, he went to Girish Park police station early in the morning and identified himself, and was then taken to Lalbazar, the city police headquarters, where he was arrested.

“Kushal Majumdar is currently being interrogated,” said Kunal Agarwal, Additional Commissioner of Police in charge of the Detective Department.

What police say happened

Investigators say the two men used the pandal’s public address system on the evening of the tragedy to warn visitors that part of the pandal was coming down and that they should get out. Police say they were identified from CCTV footage, and that the warnings caused panic and a rush towards the exit.

Police describe Raha as the main announcer. He had been on the run since the stampede and had switched off his phone. Officers tracked eight mobile numbers he was thought to be using to stay in touch with family and friends before they found him in Nadia. Both men live on Amar Basu Sarani, about 50 metres from the puja site.

Raha has been booked under non-bailable sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and was to be produced in court later on Friday. Police have not said what charges Majumdar faces.

Officials have been careful about what the arrests prove. One said the exact content of the announcements, and how directly they led to the deaths, would be clear only when the investigation is complete. Police are still piecing together how the situation got out of hand.

Heat and crowding

The announcements are only one part of the inquiry. A forensic report found that the pandal had 24 air-conditioning units with a combined capacity of 134 tons. Experts said that was not enough for a structure of that size and the crowds it was expected to draw. They said the pandal was overcrowded and that body heat and humidity overwhelmed the cooling, which points to negligence by the organisers.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has suggested that the tragedy might not have happened without the misleading announcements. The seven people arrested earlier include the puja committee’s secretary.

The inquiry

On the Calcutta High Court’s direction, the state has set up a six-member Special Investigation Team led by retired Justice Anindita Roy Saraswati. It will look into the cause of the stampede and recommend steps to prevent a repeat. Adhikari has said further action will depend on what it finds.