Kolkata stampede highlights: 9 IPS officers get charge of Durga Puja crowd management; accused sent to custody

Updates to this live blog have ended.

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates:Here are the key updates from the Kolkata stampede case in which 19 were killed:

1- 9 IPS officers assigned for crowd management: The West Bengal government has decided to deploy nine IPS officers experienced in Durga Puja crowd management to handle the festive rush in Kolkata, a day after the pandal stampede.

2- 7 accused sent to 10-day police custody: A local court remanded seven people to 10 days of police custody.

3- Mortal remains handed over to family members: Mortal remains of those who lost their lives in the tragic stampede incident were being handed over to their family members.

4- Amit Shah, Suvendu Adhikari meet injured at hospital: Union home minister Amit Shah and West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari met the injured victims of the pandal stampede at Apollo Hospital.

5- Mamata Banerjee-led TMC alleged that poor crowd management and inadequate police presence led to the stampede.

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: The West Bengal government on Sunday decided to deploy nine IPS officers experienced in Durga Puja crowd management to handle the festive rush in Kolkata, a day after a pandal stampede killed 19 people, an official said.

Amid concerns over crowd management, police deployment and allegations of negligence against puja organisers following the tragedy, Kolkata Police issued an 11-point advisory for its personnel to prevent untoward incidents at major Durga Puja pandals.

-PTI

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: Police on Sunday produced the seven people arrested in connection with the stampede at a Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata before a local court, which remanded them to 10 days of police custody.

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday said the government may mandate scrapping the practice of Durga puja pandals having VIP gates and stressed the need for clear entry and exit provisions following a stampede here that claimed multiple lives, news agency PTI reported.

Puja organisers, especially the more popular and high-budget ones, often provide special access to 'VIP pandal hoppers' which largely remain clutter-free during peak footfall hours. Special passes are sold to interested puja revellers at a premium, granting them access through VIP gates.

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: On Chorbagan stampede in Kolkata, UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said, "These are very tragic incidents, and we also express our deep sorrow over them. On behalf of the entire state, we extend our condolences to those who lost their lives in the incident. Yesterday, the Chief Minister of West Bengal visited the affected families, and today, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has also visited them to offer support. We pray to Maa Bhagwati for the speedy recovery of those injured. The state government is taking the necessary steps to prevent such accidents in the future. The opposition engages in dirty politics. Politicising such a tragic incident is disgraceful."

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: A high-level committee tasked with assessing safety measures at major Durga Puja pandals across West Bengal inspected several community puja venues in Kolkata on Sunday, an official said.

The committee was formed by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari following a stampede at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata on Saturday evening that claimed 19 lives and left 25 people injured, news agency PTI reported.

The panel comprises Disaster Management Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, Director General of Fire Services Anuj Sharma and STF Director General Jawed Shamim.

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday brought under the investigation scanner temporary home guards deployed for duty at a Kolkata puja pandal during Saturday's stampede, to scrutinise their role in the incident that left 19 people dead.

Taking a dig at the previous TMC dispensation, he also claimed that his government carried a "baggage of rubbish" thrust on the administration's shoulders by the erstwhile regime.

Nineteen people died and 25 were injured in the stampede at Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata, following a crowd surge amid rain on Saturday evening.

-PTI

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: Mortal remains of a 27-year-old nurse, Shriparna Poddar, who died in the Chorbagan stampede, are being taken to her native place in Hooghly.

Shiv Shankar Sarkar, a neighbour of the deceased, says, "We heard the news at 10 PM. She had completed her nursing training and was working at the Tata Medical Cancer Hospital; she had gone out with a friend to see the Puja after her duty... She was the only daughter..."

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: Mortal remains of those who lost their lives in the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja stampede incident are being handed over to their family members.

19 people lost their lives in the incident.

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: On the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal stampede incident, Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said, "Yesterday's Kolkata incident is very painful to everybody. The Prime Minister has already reacted to it immediately. He has given some assistance to the injured families. It is very pitiable and very heartbreaking. It is this kind of thing—I think everybody should be cautious in organizing all these kinds of functions."

He adds, "Regarding the sugarcane issue, the central government has already formed and constituted a committee. After the committee's report, I think the central government is going to take action to implement whatever the demands of the farming community are."

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: "Today, I will be at the Lalbazar Traffic Police Control office and inspect traffic management," West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari said after meeting police and administrative officials.

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: AAP MP Sanjay Singh said that the BJP-led Bengal government “should have made solid arrangements”, saying that the arrangements for an ambulance or health department were “lacking”.

“When this unfortunate incident happened, even at that time, the arrangements for an ambulance or health department, the police department that should have been there, were not made; because of which so many lives were lost. These people could perhaps have been saved,” he told news agency ANI.

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: TMC MP Mahua Moitra slammed the BJP-led government in West Bengal over the stampede that killed 19, criticising the administration over crowd control and traffic measures.

She posted on X, "For 15 years, Mamata Banerjee was chief minister & under her the Bengal administration controlled crowds, traffic & everything else flawlessly during Durga Puja. 5 months of BJP government & 17 people die in stampede in pandal. Is this a govt or an inept killing machine?”

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: West Bengal health minister Saradwat Mukherjee said that post-mortem examinations had been completed on more than half of the 19 people killed in a stampede at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata.

Mukherjee said all 25 injured people were in stable condition.

"The post-mortem of more than half of the bodies has been completed," he told reporters at Kolkata Medical College and Hospital.

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: A rickshaw-puller broke down in tears as he recalled being at work on the evening of the stampede when he learnt that his daughter had been fatally injured. He rushed to Kolkata Medical College and Hospital with his wife.

"Durga Puja will never come in our lives again; we have lost our Durga," said the grieving father of the 17-year-old girl.

"Every year during Durga Puja, my daughter will come alive in my heart," he told news agency PTI.

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee of the Mamata Banerjee-led faction blamed “maladministration” for the stampede that killed 19 people.

“Since my childhood, I have never seen such incidents. This is due to maladministration. It is a case of complete maladministration. You have seen that there was inadequate lighting within the premises. The way the structure was built meant that not many people could gather outside. An elevated corridor had been constructed. I do not understand why the police allowed this. The entire arrangement did not conform to crowd management requirements. What was the police doing? There was not a single police officer,” he told news agency ANI.

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: Union home minister Amit Shah and West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari met the injured victims of the pandal stampede at Apollo Hospital.

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: Congress leader Suman Roy Chaudhuri targeted the BJP-led Bengal government over the stampede incident, saying that the administration is busy “using police to intimidate opponents”.

“According to us and our sources, even more people have died than that, and there are more injured as well. Running the government and controlling the police administration is one thing, and deploying the police administration for the right work is another thing. The government in Bengal uses the police to intimidate opponents,” he told news agency ANI.

He added, “Bengal has such a big festival—where is the police activity visible? What is the police doing? One thing is that the organisers definitely have some fault in this. The police should have taken full control of this puja, but the police is busy elsewhere. In 20–30 years, such a big accident has never happened on the soil of Bengal.”

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: Telangana BJP President N Ramchander Rao on Sunday termed the stampede at a Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata that claimed 19 lives a major tragedy. Speaking to media, the state BJP chief called for a thorough probe to fix responsibility and take action against those responsible.

"The stampede in West Bengal, in Kolkata, is a big tragedy, and I condole the deaths of the devotees there. I'm sure that the government will definitely probe the entire incident, fix responsibility on the people who are responsible for it, and take appropriate action," Rao told ANI.

"As declared by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari ji, everyone is concerned about the entire incident. A proper probe should definitely be conducted, and action must be taken against those who are responsible," he added further.

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: At least 19 people were killed and several others injured after a stampede at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata. At total of seven people have been arrested, including the organisers of the pandal.

The arrested have been identified as -

• Raj Kumar Sewda, Committee Secretary
• Santanu Dubey, Vice President
• Biplab Mukherjee, engaged in the construction of the bamboo structure
• Koushik Saha, engaged in controlling crowd and checking VIP passes
• Pintu Dey, engaged in crowd control and management
• Suman Chakraborty, from a private security agency, and
• Rajesh Pal, incharge of the private security at the pandal.

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: Union home minister Amit Shah and West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari have arrived at Apollo Hospital to meet those injured in the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja stampede.

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: TMC MLA Kunal Ghosh called the Kolkata stampede incident a “complete failure of the administration”, saying that the concerned Puja Committee “must take responsibility for it”.

“Our current demands are as follows: First, regarding the 19 individuals, whose bodies are currently being processed through this Medical College, post-mortems must be conducted immediately. The police must ensure that the families face no difficulties or harassment, and the cremation process should be carried out smoothly,” he told reporters.

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: Seven people, including the organiser, a security agency representative and an event management company official, have been arrested after a stampede at a Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata killed 19 people.

Kolkata stampede LIVE updates: A Class 12 student from West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district and a nurse from Hooghly were among those killed in a stampede at a Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata.

Police officers visited the student's home and spoke to her family members.

"This was the first time my daughter had gone to Kolkata for pandal-hopping. I don't know what went wrong... I received a call from the police asking me to visit Kolkata Medical College and Hospital," her father, who works as a blouse-cutting artisan, told reporters.

Another victim, 27-year-old Sriparna Poddar, lived in Baidyabati in Hooghly district.

"My daughter worked as a nurse at Tata Cancer Hospital. She had left home for work on Saturday morning and later had gone to Chorbagan with her friends," her mother said after reaching Kolkata on Saturday night.

(Inputs from PTI)