The West Bengal government has constituted a Chorbagan stampede SIT of six members under retired Justice Anindita Roy Saraswati, in consultation with the Calcutta High Court, with a three-month deadline to report on the October 17 tragedy.
Kolkata: The West Bengal government has constituted a six-member Special Investigation Team headed by retired Justice Anindita Roy Saraswati to inquire into the October 17, 2026 stampede near the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata, in which 19 people were killed and 25 injured, and has asked it to report within three months [Chorbagan Durga Puja Stampede Inquiry].
The order was issued on October 21, 2026 by the Office of the Chief Secretary, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, and states that the team has been formed in consultation with the Calcutta High Court. It takes immediate effect. The order is a State government order and not an order of the High Court.
How the matter reached here
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had announced an SIT after the stampede, to be headed by a sitting High Court judge. On October 20, a Bench headed by Chief Justice Ravindra Vithalrao Ghuge turned down the State’s request for a sitting judge to lead the inquiry and told the government to appoint a retired High Court judge of its choice, as noted in our earlier report. The October 21 order follows that direction. The police investigation into the incident is separate, and allegations arising from it are untested.
Who is on the team
Justice (Retd.) Roy Saraswati is the chairperson. The other members are the Principal Secretary of the Disaster Management and Civil Defence Department, the Director General and Inspector General of Police of the Special Task Force, West Bengal, a representative of the Director General of Police not below the rank of Additional Director General, a representative of the Home and Hill Affairs Department not below the rank of Joint Secretary, and a representative of the National Disaster Response Force in Kolkata. The SIT may ask the State to induct any additional officer it needs.
What the SIT must examine
The order asks for a comprehensive, impartial and thorough inquiry into the causes and contributing factors, and for responsibility to be fixed wherever warranted. The team is to establish the sequence of events, the time and place of the initial crowd surge, the number of people present and whether the gathering exceeded the venue’s reasonably assessed safe capacity. It will look at overcrowding, weather, gate management, rumours, electrical failure, entry and exit arrangements, structural deficiencies and crowd-control measures, along with public announcements and possible panic triggers.
The SIT is to scrutinise the preparedness and response of the organisers, private security, volunteers, police, ambulance services, hospitals, fire services and civic authorities, and to examine CCTV footage, mobile video, forensic findings, call records, control-room logs and medical records. It must also check whether permissions were granted under the applicable rules and whether crowd-management, disaster-management, evacuation and police bandobast plans were prepared and implemented in line with the law, judicial directions and National Disaster Management Authority guidelines.
The order directs the team to determine whether any lapse, negligence, dereliction of duty or failure of coordination is attributable to the organisers, the police, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the Public Works Department, Fire and Emergency Services, CESC Limited or any other agency or individual, and to recommend action in accordance with law. These are questions the SIT is to examine, and no finding has been made against anyone.
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Recommendations and report
The SIT is also to recommend measures to regulate large Durga Puja gatherings in congested areas, particularly the narrow lanes of North Kolkata, including scientifically assessed footfall limits, adequate entry and exit routes, CCTV surveillance, public-address systems, emergency evacuation plans and inter-agency coordination. It must examine the assistance, compensation and rehabilitation extended or required for victims and their families, including the adequacy of the ex-gratia announced. All departments, agencies and individuals have been directed to cooperate and provide records, and the report, findings and recommendations are due to the State government within three months of the order.
Case Title: Chorbagan Durga Puja Stampede Inquiry (State government order; no case number)
Issued by: Office of the Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal, in consultation with the Calcutta High Court
Date of Order: October 21, 2026
Chairperson: Justice (Retd.) Anindita Roy Saraswati