The stampede occurred at a Durga Puja pandal on Saturday evening, when a massive rush of devotees led to the deaths of 19 people and left several others injured.
KOLKATA: The Bankshal Court on Sunday remanded seven people arrested in connection with the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal stampede to 10 days of police custody. Police had sought a 14-day remand. He said the court had granted custody until October 28, while police had sought custody until November 1.
Because we have lost our fellow citizens, “I saw that the roads were comparatively empty. Young children have lost their lives. First, precious lives have been lost…
The police had requested custody until the 1st, but the judge granted it until the 28th,” he told ANI. I may agree or disagree, but the political post-mortem needs to wait,” he told ANI. Union minister HD Kumaraswamy described the incident as “very painful” and “heartbreaking”. He said the Prime Minister had responded immediately and extended assistance to the families of the injured. “Everybody should be cautious in organising all these kinds of functions,” he said.
Defence lawyer MD Yashim Raheman claimed that the accused were outsiders who had come to witness the Puja celebrations. “We informed the court that these individuals were outsiders; they had come to witness the Durga Puja celebrations. Upon observing the heavy crowding, where many people were in distress, they stepped in to assist with rescue efforts… Regarding the police custody (PC), the court has granted it until the 28th. Everyone has been remanded to police custody until the 28th. Most importantly, this is not a time for any political blame game. It is very unfortunate that after such an incident, certain sections of the political establishment came out with everything blazing… There can be a political post-mortem, but that must happen later. Chief Minister has stated what measures have been taken. Kolkata Police arrested seven people in connection with the incident. Those arrested include Raj Kumar Sewda, alias Raja, the puja committee’s secretary; Santanu Dubey, its vice-president; and Biplab Mukherjee, alias Joy, who was involved in constructing a bamboo structure.
We categorically said yesterday that this is not a time for a blame game.
The West Bengal government has announced compensation of Rs 25 lakh and a job for the family of each deceased person. The Special Task Force (STF) has also begun an investigation to establish accountability.