Overview
- A loudspeaker announcement that a part of the Chorbagan pandal was collapsing triggered a panic and a stampede on October 17 that left 19 people dead and about 25 injured.
- Kolkata Police’s Special Investigation Team has retraced the sequence of events, taken an arrested person back to the pandal and organisers’ office, and summoned the pandal artist and multiple eyewitnesses for questioning.
- Investigators have identified several audio and video clips, sent recordings for forensic examination and moved a local court to obtain voice samples from two arrested men to compare with the announcement.
- Nine people have been arrested so far and two parallel probes are active: the police SIT and a state judicial inquiry led by retired Justice Anindita Roy Saraswati, which must report within three months; the Durga idol was allowed to be immersed after the SIT cleared the step and ordered the pandal preserved as evidence.
- The state has begun victim outreach including cash and employment promises from the chief minister, and officials say the probe’s forensic findings and the questioning of police personnel on duty will be decisive for accountability and future crowd-safety measures.