Another person arrested in connection with the Kolkata Durga Puja stampede

Clothes, belongings and personal belongings of people stuck in a stampede around the accident site in Chorbagan Sarbajanin Durga Puja. | Photo credit: Special arrangement

Kolkata police on Thursday (October 22, 2026) arrested another person in connection with the Durga Puja stampede in the city that killed 19 people. Earlier, police detained 14 people for questioning on October 18 and arrested seven of them.

Also read | Kolkata stampede: Three months too short to submit probe report, will try to meet deadline, says SIT chief

“The alleged announcer at Chorebagan Puja pandal – Sanjeeva Raha alias Sentu (cashier) – was picked up from Nadia by DD KP,” Kolkata Additional Commissioner of Police said on Thursday evening (October 22, 2026). Later, the Kolkata Police said the broadcaster was arrested after questioning.

Panic among the crowd

After the tragic incident, there were allegations that wrong announcements about the possible collapse of the pandals had created panic among the crowd and that people started rushing in multiple directions, which may be one of the reasons for the stampede. The detention and interrogation of the alleged whistleblower is a significant development in the case.

Police have already arrested the secretary and vice-president of the Chorebagan Durga Puja Committee along with five other people, including two in-charge of security, one person involved in the construction of pandals and two people involved in crowd management. All were sent to police custody for 10 days on October 18.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Wednesday (October 21) that the stampede was due to human error and that the government would take measures to avoid similar incidents in the future.

“We have lost our fellow citizens due to mistakes made by people. We will investigate it. The government has several responsibilities and we have fulfilled them. But we have also learned from the tragic incident and ensured that such an incident does not happen again in future,” Mr Adhikari said at an event in Howrah.

The Chief Minister also added that he has already visited 12 families of the victims and will visit others on October 23 and 24. Mr. Adhikari said that they will take special precautions and necessary steps to avoid similar incidents during next year’s Durga Puja.

A six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed on October 21 to probe the stampede. The team will be headed by former Justice (retired) Anindita Roy Saraswati and several other officials, including a representative of the National Disaster Response Force and a representative of the state government.

“The real culprits will be saved”

On the other hand, Mamata All India Trinamool Congress MLA Kunal Ghosh on Thursday said that every member of the “new Durga Puja committee” should be remanded before the SIT begins its investigation. “Otherwise, no matter how diligently the retired judge tries to investigate, at every step the police and the government will try to shield and protect the powerful people behind it. The real culprits will be spared and some poor cops will be scapegoated,” Mr Ghosh said.

The Trinamool faction of the party had also earlier alleged that the old Durga Puja committee in Chorebagan was “forced” to resign and a new “BJP-backed” committee was set up in its place.

On Wednesday, the Chief Minister also said that only “Sanatanis” would be allowed to participate in Durga idol immersion ceremonies. In response, Mr. Ghosh said the chief minister was trying to “create” new issues to divert attention from the stampede and engage people in other issues, so that the focus would shift from the “real culprits”.

Published – 22 Oct 2026 10:00 PM IST