Kolkata stampede: puja treasurer held for "pandal collapsing" announcement as probe finds a 7-foot exit
Investigators say a false alarm on the public address system sent crowds rushing into a narrow, dim exit at the Chorbagan pandal.
- Hindustan Times
Police have arrested Sanjib Raha, the treasurer of the Chorbagan Durga Puja, accused of announcing that the pandal was collapsing, which police say set off the panic behind the 17 October stampede, PTI reported. He was traced to a hideout in Nadia district on Thursday and arrested after hours of questioning, having been absconding since the night of the stampede.
Police said two people made announcements on Mahā Saptamī and were identified from CCTV footage that captures them warning visitors to leave. Another man, Kushal Majumdar, was detained for questioning on Friday, and inquiries indicate he too made announcements, Hindustan Times reported.
The six-member Special Investigation Team, headed by retired Calcutta High Court judge Anindita Roy Saraswati, has focused on the narrow exit and the poorly lit pathway. "We found the lights to be dim, as people had complained," she said outside the pandal, which has been kept as it was on the day.
A police forensic team made a 3D map of the site and flew a drone over the pandal and surrounding lanes. An officer said the exit for ordinary visitors was about seven feet wide and was narrowed further by air-conditioner units and food stalls, while families allege the emergency gate used for VIPs was locked.
All accused are booked under BNS sections 105, 110 and 3(5), and seven earlier accused, including the committee's secretary and vice-president, are in ten-day police custody. The tragedy has become a political row because the Chief Minister's nephew was a patron of the puja.
Key data
19 dead and 25 injured. Raha is the eighth accused arrested. Exit about 7 feet wide; viewing ramp about 5 feet wide.
Why it matters
The probe now points to a sequence of a false alarm, a single cramped exit and poor lighting, all of which are fixable. Kālī Pūjā and Chhaṭh are days away, and the SIT's findings should shape rules for every large pandal.
GK: did you know?
Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, replaced Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code.
