File photo of Chorbagan stampede Incident —– TOI
The investigative team initiated its evidence-gathering phase on Oct 31 following a key review meeting at Writers’ Buildings. Prior to Saturday’s depositions, the panel had questioned 13 individuals, primarily focusing on fire personnel and officers from the Girish Park PS who were deployed on duty when the stampede broke out. The SIT collected testimonies from three senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers and several on-duty police personnel to reconstruct the events leading up to the disaster. Operating alongside the ongoing police inquiry, the SIT also includes state police DG (STF) Jawed Shamim among its seven core panel members. “We particularly concentrated on police personnel from Girish Park PS who were on duty during the tragedy. We also spoke to some fire service personnel,” a SIT member stated.
Kolkata: The six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the tragic Durga Puja stampede at Chorbagan, which claimed 19 lives, recorded statements from a top fire services officer and three other IPS officers on Saturday. The state govt-appointed panel, headed by retired Calcutta High Court judge Anindita Roy Saraswati, recorded the statement of the fire dept chief to assess the exact scope of work, regulations, and safety inspections carried out by the fire service at the mega pandal ahead of the festival.
Moving into its next phase of investigation, the SIT plans to summon local residents and eyewitnesses who were present at the scene.
SIT chief Justice (Retd) Saraswati indicated earlier that the team might also summon Sushanta Shibani Pal, the theme artist who designed the Chorbagan Sarbojonin Durga Puja pandal, if necessary to determine structural or crowd-management flaws. Pal had earlier recorded his statement with Kolkata Police, who are probing the case separately.