As the probe into the stampede that left at least 19 people dead at the Chowrbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal deepens, senior police officers revealed the stampede may have resulted from a lack of proper crowd management and misleading announcements following a sudden downpour. Interacting with media reporters, he said investigators came across a video where the announcer could be heard saying that the pandal was about to collapse.
“We have video footage of an announcement asking people to leave the pandal on the grounds that the structure was about to collapse. We are trying to identify who made the announcement and what prompted it,” the officer said.
According to the official circumstantial evidence and accounts from locals and eyewitnesses, inadequate crowd management contributed to the tragedy.
The probe also revealed that the number of police personnel and private security guards deployed at the venue were insufficient, further aggravating the situation.
“We have gathered sufficient evidence pointing to gross mismanagement by the puja organisers. There was no clear plan to manage the large number of visitors, and everything was handled verbally. We have collected CCTV camera footage, recorded accounts from locals and eyewitnesses, and corroborated our findings. Security personnel were inadequate,” the police officer said.
He added that the announcements guiding visitors on entry and exits and managing the crowd were insufficient, leaving them confused amidst the rush. According to the officer, neither the gate at the venue nor the approach outside the pandal was wide enough to accommodate the sudden influx of people.
Earlier in the day, the CM announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakhs for families who lost their loved ones and government jobs. He also vowed to form a fact-finding team headed by a sitting High Court judge to investigate the incident.
So far, seven people, including the secretary and the vice president of the puja’s organising committee, have been arrested by the Kolkata Police.