Kolkata stampede probe: Police tracking down those responsible for panic-causing announcement

Kolkata: The investigation team probing the stampede at the community Durga Puja pandal of Chorbagan Sarbojanin on the night of October 17 that claimed 19 lives, were trying to track the persons responsible for the misleading announcement through a public address system that triggered panic among the pilgrims present within the pandal, prompting them to rush out of the pandal.

The initial probe had suggested that a combination of three factors ultimately resulted in the tragedy of such magnitude, one of which is that misleading announcement.

The misleading announcement was made at a time when chaos had already started surfacing within the pandal because of the rains, with those outside trying to get inside the pandal to save themselves from the rain and those within the pandal refusing to go out for the same reason. At that time, a misleading announcement was made, asking people to evacuate the pandal immediately for fear of the structure collapsing, triggering extreme panic and prompting the pilgrims to rush out, with some even moving towards the entry gate to exit, ultimately leading to the stampede.

An insider from the Kolkata Police said that attempts are underway to identify the person whose voice was heard on the public address system making that misleading announcement. “Once that person is identified, he will be interrogated on whether he took the decision to make such an announcement voluntarily or was he instructed by anyone to make that announcement. It is important to know what prompted that person to make such a misleading and irresponsible announcement amid surfacing chaos, thus prompting extreme panic among the pilgrims,” the city police officer said.

Although not blaming the police entirely for the mishap, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has indirectly accepted lapses in crowd management at the pandal of Chorbagan Sarbojanin on Saturday night.

"These are people (civic volunteers) recruited in 2024-25. They (the administration) hire people every year, and this time they were taken from the old list. No new person was brought in. We have asked for the list, and it should be scrutinised. It would not be right to blame them without examining the facts. It started raining, and the rope was released. There were no proper two-lane arrangements there. A temporary passage had been created using ropes, forming a chain. That chain broke, and everyone got mixed up," the Chief Minister said.

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