Overview
- A panic at the Chorbagan pandal after a loudspeaker announcement on October 17 led to a crowd surge that killed 19 people and injured about 25.
- Police have arrested the puja treasurer Sanjib (Sanjeev) Raha and announcer Kushal Majumdar plus others, bringing reported arrests to nine as CCTV footage identified the two men making the warning.
- A six‑member Special Investigation Team led by retired judge Anindita Roy Saraswati inspected the site and found dim lighting and a narrow, winding exit corridor that made a bottleneck likely during heavy rain.
- Forensic teams flagged inadequate industrial cooling, bulky AC units and coolers blocking exit routes and a locked emergency/VIP gate as factors that could have worsened traumatic asphyxia seen in preliminary post‑mortems.
- The court-ordered probe will run for three months with the pandal preserved for evidence, the idol allowed to be immersed under police supervision, and investigators expected to examine permissions, crowd management and institutional accountability.