Retd HC judge Anindita Roy Saraswati at the Chorbagan stampede site on Thursday
The ex-judge also said the inquiry would focus on fixing responsibility for the incident that killed 19 people and injured 25 others. Roy Saraswati served as Coochbehar district judge in 2007 and later as chief judge of the City Civil Court before being elevated to Calcutta High Court in 2012, becoming its first woman judge.
Kolkata: Retired Calcutta High Court judge Anindita Roy Saraswati, appointed by the state govt to head the Special Investigation Team probing the Chorbagan stampede, said all allegations will be probed with an “open mind”. She also visited the stampede spot and said, “KP (Kolkata Police) will be examined,” adding, “The inquiry is specifically to examine the role of the police. The police told me it was locked. Roy Saraswati, who is also the SIR appellate tribunal judge for West Midnapore and Jhargram, said the SIT would examine allegations related to crowd management, lack of space, inadequate lighting and possible lapses in public announcements at the pandal. It will be our priority to see who and what led to it,” she said. The ex-judge said, “We will speak with many people involved.
The emergency exit was closed at that time. For now, I will not say anything conclusively. “We will try to see whose fault it was that led to the devastating incident. “There are allegations that correct announcements were not made, the pandal was too small and there wasn’t enough lighting. We will look into everything, including the allegations, with an open mind and come to a decision. The CCTV footage has been collected; we will assess whether the number of CCTVs were adequate. After retirement, she held key assignments under the central govt.