Kolkata: Nineteen people, most of them women and children, were crushed to death at a puja pandal in North Kolkata on Saturday (October 17) evening, which was recently forcefully taken over by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-controlled committee. The incident happened after a rain-soaked crowd surged through a narrow exit at a pandal that residents say had too few police, untrained volunteers and no way for ambulances to get in.Outside the Chorbagan Sarbojanin puja pandal in North Kolkata, Debdeep Adhikari’s name is mentioned as the chief patron. Debdeep is the nephew of West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari. Photo: Joydeep Sarkar.The Chorbagan Sarbojanin puja, in its 91st year, was taken over this year by a new committee chaired by Jorasanko BJP MLA Bijoy Ojha, after the previous committee was forced to resign. West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari’s nephew, Debdeep Adhikari, is associated with the puja. At its inauguration on Monday (October 12), Suvendu had hailed it as a Sanatani puja.“Today, at around 19.40 pm [7.40 pm], a stampede incident took place at the exit gate of Sarada Park (Chor Bagan) Puja Pandal (Girish Park PS area) due to heavy rush of pandal hoppers during rain,” Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Kunal Agarwal said in a written statement.“All the injured persons were rescued and removed to Kolkata Medial College. Reinforcement from Control Room/ Fire Brigade/ KP, DMG team/ Ambulances with Medical team were sent. Puja pandal is now closed for visitors. So far information received around 35 persons were removed to MCH. Details are awaited,” it added.The dead include a seven-year-old child and several teenagers. Injured people were also taken to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, and 11 in critical condition were later shifted to SSKM or Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital.‘Unimaginable’Anup Gupta, a local resident, said he and other young men heard cries for help and ran in. Some of the saffron-uniformed volunteers deployed by the police, he said, ran out past them in panic.“What we saw inside was unimaginable. The trampled body of a child in new clothes lay beside the mother’s body. Some were unconscious, some were moaning. We brought the bodies out one by one,” he said. “None of the puja committee’s leaders were there.”Ambulances could not get through because the road was lined with cars of VIPs and political leaders, he said. Some of the injured were carried to hospital on motorcycles and in app-based cabs. New shoes, clothes, water bottles and bags lay scattered across the lane afterwards.How did it happen?The puja stands near the Ram Mandir, in a pocket of north Kolkata known for its narrow lanes, and had been drawing huge crowds since it opened. Visitors enter through a narrow lane into an enclosure of about 110 by 90 feet.This year’s theme was “Beyond Sound,” replacing the theme the earlier committee had planned. The pandal was built around the idol, with an elevated gallery circling it so visitors could see the goddess from all sides.Rain fell on and off through the evening. Women carrying children and elderly visitors stayed inside to avoid it, while people queuing outside pushed in towards the covered area. The rush on the elevated gallery is believed to have contributed to the stampede.According to eyewitness accounts, the exit narrowed sharply at a flight of makeshift stairs, and the adjoining Parbati Ghosh Lane was reportedly closed. State minister Umesh Rai said part of the pandal’s iron structure gave way under the pressure. Residents said someone had shouted during the crush that the structure was collapsing.Suvendu said initial input from an assistant commissioner of police at the spot suggested the crush was triggered by an announcement from a private security agency and the blowing of whistles.A puja that changed handsThe takeover is set out in the old committee’s resignation letters and the new committee’s list. Besides Ojha and Debdeep, Tamoghna Ghosh, the BJP’s north Kolkata district president, is also associated with the puja. Two khuti pujas, the ritual that marks the start of pandal building, were held this year.Jayanta Banerjee, who headed the committee for nearly 40 years and used neighbourhood volunteers to manage crowds, was among those who resigned. “For the first time, I have deliberately gone 500 km away during the puja, because we are not needed,” he told The Wire over a telephonic conversation. “When we were there, nearly a lakh people came through this narrow lane. We never let the crowd build up.”Rajesh Shaw, a resident, said locals had been shut out. “The BJP hijacked our puja. They took over its management. They are bringing leaders and ministers in on VIP passes, and the public crowd keeps growing,” he said.A resident who lives a stone’s throw from the pandal said he had watched it grow from a warm neighbourhood puja into a glitzy one. “With the recent political change, a lot has changed hands internally. Let us leave that aside. But this loss of life was not acceptable. The extreme mismanagement of the puja committee and the state administration is responsible,” he added.Further, Shaw pointed out, “This year there are only a handful of police across the city during the puja. Only volunteers in saffron T-shirts moving about. A festival like Durga Puja cannot be managed with this. So even if they try to shrug off the responsibility, the responsibility will remain.” A force stretched thinDurga Puja crowd management has long been counted among Kolkata Police’s strongest skills. This year, a large transfer list moved officers who knew their areas closely to unfamiliar posts just before the festival. Deployment at pujas was also thinned out as the force prepared for Union home minister Amit Shah’s scheduled visit.Passes sold in thousands on popular e-commerce company websites by the new organisers added to the confusion. At pandal gates, clubs said they knew nothing about them, and police said they were not recognised. Clubs had no clear brief on parking and routes.Kolkata Police deployed about 22,000 volunteers across 3,319 pujas. Nishith Roy, a young man from Ballygunge, said he signed up at Kasba police station through a local BJP mandal president. “They only asked for my phone number and a photocopy of my Aadhaar card. After that I was given a saffron shirt, trousers and cap,” he said. Volunteers are paid Rs 825 a day besides food. “We have had no training.”Silence at the siteWhen this reporter reached the spot, several Kolkata Police officers tried to stop media persons from taking photographs. One, standing in the dark, said, “This is an accident. Do not blame the government.” They backed off after residents argued with them.Police personnel attempt to stop media persons from clicking photographs at the stampede site in Kolkata on October 17, 2026. Photo: Joydeep Sarkar.No committee member was at the site when this reporter left at 3 am on Sunday. Police had removed those who were there and quickly took down the flex banners carrying the organisers’ names.Government response“As a chief minister, I can’t give a statement before the investigation is over, but I assure that proper investigation will be done with full transparency,” Suvendu said in a statement. “The puja committee members and the security agencies have been detained. All kind of support will be provided to all families. This is a very very sad incident.”Police registered a suo motu FIR at Girish Park police station under Sections 105, 110 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Twelve people were detained overnight, but not key officer bearers with BJP links. Suvendu announced a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and said the government had asked the chief justice of the Calcutta high court to name a sitting judge to head it.Empty streets near Chorbagan Sarbojanin puja in Kolkata pandal after the stampede incident on October 17, 2026 evening. Photo: Joydeep Sarkar.Suvendu and West Bengal health minister Sharadwat Mukherjee visited Kolkata Medical College at night, and senior doctors were told to report to the hospital. Police sealed the roads to the hospital ahead of the visit. Around 1.10 am, Suvendu went into the pandal with police and forensic officers.The state announced Rs 25 lakh and a Group D government job for the families of the dead, and Rs 5 lakh for the injured. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of each of the dead and Rs 50,000 for each of the injured.Police have opened helplines at 18003455678 (toll free) and 033 22143130.ReactionsShah postponed his Sunday programmes in the city to visit the injured. “I have just received the extremely distressing news of multiple casualties after the stampede at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal. I have spoken with chief minister Shri Suvendu Adhikari about this matter,” he wrote on X. “I am postponing all my scheduled programmes in West Bengal tomorrow to visit the injured in the hospital.”Former chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Facebook that she was “deeply shocked and saddened.” “I pray to Maa Durga for the speedy recovery of all those injured and for strength and courage for their families during this difficult time,” she wrote.Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) leader Md Salim praised residents for coming forward to help. “This is not the time for blame. But many people have complained that the police administration was nowhere to be found. The government should now quickly give families accurate information. Otherwise, many people’s anxiety will grow,” he said.Orders and closuresProhibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita were imposed for three days in the Bowbazar area around the hospital. Tala Prattoy, Alipore Sarbojanin, Chetla Agrani and Santosh Mitra Square were closed or had entry restricted, and a show at Allen Park was cancelled. The chief secretary ordered heads of departments and senior IAS officers to head back to their headquarters by the first flight on Sunday.The tragedy came as the CRPF and other central forces were withdrawn from the state for protest duty in Delhi, with state and Kolkata Police kept on standby, a senior state police officer said.With three days of the festival left, there are calls for police to act against the unchecked sale of VIP passes before crowds swell further.With additional inputs from Anwesha Banerjee.Translated from Bangla by Aparna Bhattacharya.