The Kolkata Police has arrested two members of the Chor Bagan Sarbojanin club who allegedly made an announcement triggering a stampede at the Durga Puja pandal that killed 19 people, a senior police officer familiar with the developments said on Friday.
So far, nine people have been arrested in the case. She added that the pandal was kept in the same condition as it was during the incident. “We have to find out how the whole thing happened and who was responsible. “The exit path used by common visitors was around seven feet wide, which was extremely narrow. The exit route was further narrowed by outdoor units of the air conditioner machines installed inside the pandals and food stalls set up on a road.”
One of the officers cited above said that the families of those killed and the 25 injured people alleged that the emergency gate, which was otherwise used for VIP movement, was locked.
Another police officer, who inspected the site, said people ran for safety after they panicked over an announcement, allegedly made by Raha and Majumdar, that a portion of the pandal was collapsing. “It seems people panicked and ran for safety because of the announcement that the pandal, of which the ramp was an integral part, was collapsing,” the officer said. Retired Calcutta high court judge Anindita Roy Saraswati, heading the SIT, said the stampede did not happen inside the pandal but at the exit point. “We found the lights to be dim, as people had complained,” she said outside the pandal on Thursday.
One of the members, Sanjib Raha, was arrested from the Nadia district in West Bengal on Thursday and another member, Kushal Majumdar, was arrested after he went to the Girish Park police station to surrender on Friday, according to the officer.
Meanwhile, the six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the October 17 stampede has zeroed in on the narrow exit point and the dimly lit pathway at the pandal.
