Kolkata Puja stampede: Forensic team conducts 3D scan of pandal premises

Kolkata, Oct 22 (IANS) A team of forensic experts from Kolkata Police, on Thursday, conducted 3D scanning of the different parts of the community Durga Puja pandal of Chorbagan Sarbojanin in North Kolkata, where a tragic stampede on the night of October 17 took a toll of 19 lives.

Sources said that the 3D scanning of the pandal premises was done to have a clear idea of how the pandal premises were designed and arranged, the width of the entry and entrance gates, among others, the answers to which are necessary for investigation.

Forensic experts accompanied the members of the special investigation team (SIT) of the Kolkata police, headed by an assistant commissioner-ranking official from the detective department (DD) of the city police.

The SIT members had visited Chorbagan Sarbojanin pandal earlier also. On Thursday, in addition to viewing CCTV footage, the SIT members reconstructed the sequence of events of the accident by questioning civic volunteers and club members who were present at the pandal at the time of the tragedy on Saturday night.

“It is not possible to keep the pandal in that place for a long time. Before demolishing the pandal, it is necessary to collect all the necessary samples, which will help in the investigation at a later stage. That is exactly why forensic experts have scanned the entire pavilion through 3D scanning. In the future, the footage of the 3D scan will give an idea about the scene,” said a city police insider.

Meanwhile, the police have detained a person from Nadia district of West Bengal, suspected to have made the misleading announcement on the microphone before the stampede that triggered panic among the devotees present within the pandal premises, prompting them to rush towards the exit gate that night.

The misleading announcement was made at a time when chaos had already started surfacing within the pandal because of the rains, with those outside trying to get inside the pandal to save themselves from the rain and those within the pandal refusing to go out for the same reason.

At that time, a misleading announcement was made, asking people to evacuate the pandal immediately for fear of the structure collapsing, triggering extreme panic and prompting the pilgrims to rush out, with some even moving towards the entry gate to exit, ultimately leading to the stampede.

The person is being integrated at the city police headquarters of Lalbazar in South Kolkata. However, the city has not disclosed any further details in the matter so far, including the name of the detained person.

On Thursday, the members of the six-member judicial probe panel constituted by the state government and headed by Justice Anindita Roy Saraswati (retired) also went to the Chorbagan Sarbojanin and started its preliminary investigation in the matter.

The said judicial probe panel is supposed to complete its investigation and submit a report to the state government in the matter within the next three months, which the chairperson of the said probe panel feels to be a challenging task.

–IANS

src/dan