KOLKATA STAMPEDE TRIGGERS CALL FOR JUDICIAL SCRUTINY AS BENGAL MOVES TO END VIP QUEUES
October 18, 2026
KOLKATA, OCTOBER 18: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has announced plans to seek a judicially headed investigation into the deadly stampede at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal, while proposing an end to separate VIP queues at major puja venues as part of a wider crowd-safety overhaul.
The tragedy occurred on Saturday evening when a surge of people amid heavy rainfall left 19 dead and 25 injured. Adhikari said Chief Secretary Manoj Agarwal would approach Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Ravindra Vithalrao Ghuge for permission to appoint a sitting judge to head the Special Investigation Team (SIT). If permission is not granted, the government would consider appointing a retired judge.
The proposed SIT will include representatives from the state home department, police leadership, the National Disaster Response Force and the disaster management department. Officials from Kolkata Police, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the fire services have been excluded from the team to enable scrutiny of possible lapses by these agencies.
The chief minister also said the government was considering abolishing separate VIP entry queues at Durga Puja pandals. Inspection teams have been directed to examine safety arrangements across Kolkata, identify shortcomings and regulate visitor numbers wherever necessary. Police officers in districts have also been instructed to inspect pandals and ensure that organisers follow crowd-management guidelines.
Adhikari defended the police response despite eyewitness questions about the availability of personnel during the incident. He cited accounts from victims’ families who, he said, described efforts by police to arrange transport for the injured to hospitals.
Announcing financial assistance, the chief minister said each bereaved family would receive ₹25 lakh, while every injured person would receive ₹5 lakh. He plans to meet the victims’ families on October 20 and 21. Of the 19 people killed, one was from Muzaffarpur in Bihar; the remaining victims were from West Bengal. Two injured people remained in intensive care, although their conditions were reported not to be life-threatening.
The government has also scheduled a meeting with Durga Puja committees from Kolkata and its suburbs on October 26 to review arrangements and discuss preventive measures. The proposed investigation, safety inspections and possible removal of VIP queues place crowd management and accountability at the centre of the state’s response to the tragedy.
