Kolkata stampede: CCTV footage shows devotees ignoring cops' requests

Kolkata: The Special Investigation (SIT) of the Kolkata Police probing the tragic October 17 stampede tragedy at Chorbagan Sarbojanin community Durga Puja in North Kolkata that claimed 19 lives, has secured a crucial 15-minute CCTV footage showing how the devotees within and outside the pandal ignored repeated requests from the cops not to overcrowd the premises.

Insiders from the city police said that the 15-minute video footage from 7.15 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. on October 17 showed how some cops present at the pandal were requesting the devotees within the pandal to evacuate, and some other police personnel were requesting those devotees outside not to get inside the pandal unless those inside came out.

“Our men had been requesting these two groups of devotees inside and outside the pandal to prevent overcrowding within the pandal. But because of the rain, neither the devotees present within the pandal evacuated, nor those present outside stopped rushing in. This led to a totally claustrophobic situation within the pandal because of the overcrowding just before the stampede tragedy,” a city police insider said.

According to him, the efforts by the police personnel present there to prevent overcrowding were not only visible in the 15-minute video footage but also confirmed by some eyewitnesses, who were questioned by the investigating officials.

At the same time, it is learnt that the private security guards deployed by the Puja committee organisers were not outsourced from any professional security agency. The committee had hired some local unemployed youths who did not even have the bare minimum knowledge or training to handle crowds.

The members of the SIT are questioning the puja committee organisers to get detailed information on the matter.

Besides the SIT, a six-member judicial probe panel, constituted by the state government, is conducting a parallel probe into the tragedy. The Chairperson of the judicial probe panel, Justice Anindita Roy Saraswati (retired), told media persons on Monday that they will start the evidence-collection exercise from October 31.

The judicial probe panel is supposed to complete its investigation and submit a report to the state government within six months of its formation.

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