Team formed to probe Asansol stampede

Actions will be taken on the basis of the report, says police commissioner Sudheer Kumar Nelakantam 

Slippers lie strewn at the site of Wednesday’s stampede in Asansol on Thursday.: Santosh Kumar Mandal

Abhijeet Chatterjee   |   TT  |  Durgapur   |   16.12.22  : Police have formed a team to probe into the stampede which claimed three persons’ lives in Asansol on Wednesday.   

Asansol-Durgapur police commissioner Sudheer Kumar Nelakantam said the team led by a deputy commissioner would submit its report to him and the West Burdwan district magistrate.

“Actions will be taken on the basis of the report,” he said.

On Wednesday evening, two women and a 12-year-old girl died in a stampede shortly after leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari had left a programme at Ramkrishna Dangal in Asansol, where around 5,000 free blankets were being distributed at a religious event organised by the local unit of the BJP.

Sources said the organisers of the event had started distributing blankets from five counters at the venue adjacent to a temple soon after Adhikari and other district BJP leaders had left around 6.30pm. 

Sources added chaos took over after rumours spread that blankets were running out of stock. This led to people who had gathered on the small field to jostle with each other to grab blankets. This triggered a stampede that claimed the lives of three people.

Some witnesses also pointed out the field did not have a level surface and this led people to stumble on each other as they made a rush to the counters to get the blankets.

“The venue can hardly accommodate around 1,500 people at a time but over 5,000 people had turned up to get blankets,” said an officer, who is also a member of the police probe team.

On Thursday, while the site of the tragedy wore a deserted look with slippers scattered all over, family members of those killed in the stampede gathered outside the Asansol district hospital to receive the bodies after post-mortem.

They also protested outside the hospital and accused the organisers of the event of mismanagement. They demanded compensation from the organisers for the families of those killed and accused BJP leaders of not turning up in their moment of grief.

“My sister died in the stampede. She had gone to collect a blanket at the event but none from the organisers or the BJP came to meet us after the incident,” said Bikash Singh.

Priti Singh, the 12-year-old sister of Bikash, died in the stampede on Wednesday.

Caught on the wrong foot, BJP leader Jitendra Tiwari, who was one of the organisers of the event, said this was not the time to blame anyone or indulge in politics.

“Those who suffered in the incident are our kin and party workers. We will do everything possible to help them,” Tiwari said countering criticism that BJP leaders did not turn up to help family members of the victims.

Asked about the police contention that they did not take permission for the programme, Tiwari said: “If the police had any objection about the event, they should have communicated it to us properly.”

Trinamul leaders in Asansol took the opportunity to reach out to the victims’ families. Asansol mayor Bidhan Upadhyay met the victims’ family members and promised compensation for them. The Trinamul leader also promised that the police and administration would take action against the organisers for the lapses that led to the accident.

“How can the BJP be so irresponsible? There was no proper management and it led to the deaths,” said Upadhyay. 

A BJP leader in Asansol said when 5,000 blankets were being distributed at the event, the organisers should have chosen a bigger venue.

“It is true that the police have failed in its duty but the organisers cannot deny their responsibility behind the incident. They should have put in place a team of volunteers to manage the crowd. The narrow road leading to the venue was blocked by vehicles of the organisers leaving little space for people to escape the stampede,” the BJP leader said.