Kolkata, Oct 18 Abhishek Srivastav from Bihar’s Muzaffarpur had long wanted to witness the grandeur of Durga Puja in Kolkata. But the trip ended in tragedy, with Srivastav and his seven-year-old son among the 19 people who died in the stampede at the Chorbagan puja pandal.
Among the dead were two friends who had been inseparable since childhood, a mother and her teenage son, and a middle-aged couple. Many had travelled from Kolkata’s suburbs and neighbouring districts to soak in the festive spirit, only to lose their lives in the stampede.
A senior official said that among the people who died were the father-son duo from Bihar’s Muzaffarpur — Abhishek Srivastav (38) and his son Ayans Kumar Srivastav.
The victims included people from Kolkata as well as from Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia, Purba Bardhaman and North and South 24 Parganas districts, he said.
Barnali Halder, a Class 11 student, and her close friend Tania Biswas had initially planned to visit puja pandals in Salt Lake, only to change their plans later to central and north Kolkata. Inseparable since childhood, they both died in the tragedy..
A family member said Tania’s mother had always been reluctant to let her daughter go anywhere alone but had made an exception this time. The family is now struggling to come to terms with her death.
According to her relatives, Tania had left home saying she would visit pandals in Salt Lake. Her family did not know she would go to Chorbagan.
Among those dead were a mother-son duo, Tagar Bej (37) and Sandeep Bej (14) from Purba Bardhaman, and middle-aged Baranagar couple Dilip Ghosh (59) and Dipali Ghosh (45), who are survived by their son.
The deceased include Sriparna Poddar (26) of Baidyabati in Hooghly, Mithu Mondal (45) of Shyampukur in Kolkata, Akriti Kumari (17) of Bally in Howrah, Barnali Haldar (17) and Taniya Biswas (18), both from New Town, Shubham Shankar (33) of Maniktala in Kolkata and Arati Sarkar Biswas (44) of Chakdaha in Nadia.
The list also named Tagar Bej (37) and Sandeep Bej (14), both from Purba Bardhaman, Kalpana Jana (46) of Khardaha in North 24 Parganas; Bikash Bhattacharya (66) of Howrah; Sneha Bhawali (20) of Bakrahat in South 24 Parganas; Piyali Pramanik (25) of Hooghly; Priya Samaddar (18) of New Barrackpore; Pranjal Sarkar (31) of Agarpara; and Dilip Ghosh (59) and Dipali Ghosh (46), from Baranagar.
(PTI News)
