India

New Delhi, October 18, 2026. In the Indian press, the Chorbagan stampede is first seen through the response of the authorities. On Saturday, October 17, in the evening, on the day of Maha Saptami, at least 19 people died and 25 were injured in front of the Chorbagan Sarbojanin pandal, in northern Calcutta, during a rush under sudden rain. The head of the West Bengal government, Suvendu Adhikari, visited the Calcutta university hospital. He announced 25 lakh rupees and a group D job for the family of each deceased, 5 lakh for each injured, medical care, as well as a special investigation team (SIT) led by a sitting High Court judge. "Nobody will be spared," he promised, the police having collected CCTV footage.

The causes remain disputed. Adhikari cites an announcement over the loudspeaker by the organizers; relatives of two victims mention whistles from private security guards; Minister Umesh Rai highlights the downpour while speaking of "mismanagement". A senior police officer, quoted by PTI, says he has gathered "sufficient evidence pointing to gross mismanagement": insufficient staff, oral instructions, narrow grid and access road, and an announcement asking to evacuate because the structure was going to collapse, whose author is being searched for.

On the judicial front, 12 people were arrested overnight. Free Press Journal reports seven arrests on Sunday, including the secretary and vice-president of the committee, under several articles of the BNS; Deccan Chronicle reports, citing Adhikari, six arrests. Article 163 of the BNSS prohibits gatherings of five or more people around the Bowbazar police station for three days, from October 18 to 20.

The regional government has also formed a high-level committee to examine the security of large pandals: crowd management, exits, solidity of structures. Several very crowded pandals have been temporarily closed, while nearly 3,500 pujas are being held in the city. At the national level, Narendra Modi announced 2 lakh rupees from the PMNRF fund per deceased and 50,000 per injured; Rajnath Singh and Ashwini Vaishnaw offered their condolences, and Amit Shah postponed his trips to Bengal.

Politics is emerging: the president of the Bengal BJP, Samik Bhattacharya, calls to avoid any "political mudslinging", while the Trinamool highlights the links between the committee and BJP elected officials, including a nephew of the head of government.