Kolkata, Oct 21 — Eighteen IPS officers have been given the responsibility of supervising the immersion process of Durga idols in four cities of West Bengal, including Kolkata, said a senior police officer on Wednesday.
Out of them, 12 have been stationed in Kolkata alone. A notification in this regard was issued by the state police late Tuesday night. It said that IPS-rank officers will supervise the immersion, which will take place in different parts from 'Dashami' on Wednesday till October 24. The names of each IPS officer and their duties on which day have been shared.
In addition to Kolkata, the state government is giving extra importance to the immersion in Howrah, Barrackpore and Chandannagar.
A total of six IPS officers have been sent, two each in those three cities.
IPS officers Gaurav Sharma, Soma Das Mitra, Rashid Munir Khan, Akash Magharia, Suresh Kumar Chadive and Dhritimaan Sarkar will supervise the immersion in the Kolkata police area on October 21 and 23. Apart from this, IPS officer Praveen Kumar Tripathi, Imran Wahab, Sheesh Ram Jhajharia, Soumya Roy, Parijat Biswas and Siddharth Dhapola will be in charge of supervision in the Kolkata Police area on October 22 and 24.
IPS officer Indra Chakraborty will supervise the immersion on October 21 and 23 in Howrah Police District.
Avaru Rabindranath will be in charge in Howrah on October 22 and 24.
Palash Chandra Dhali and Duteeman Bhattacharya have been given the responsibility of the Barrackpore Police District.
Abhijit Banerjee and Sandeep Mandal have been given the responsibility in Chandannagar.
On October 17, the first Saptami, 19 visitors were killed in a stampede in the Chorebagan Sarbojonin Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata. Eyewitnesses claimed there was a stampede due to sudden rain. It is also being alleged that panic spread after announcements were made by the puja organisers.
Kolkata Police have already formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the incident. Seven people have been arrested in connection with the incident.
Since the pandal stampede, the administration has been extra cautious about pujas in Kolkata and adjacent areas. Surveillance is being carried out at popular puja pandals. Additional arrangements have been made to control the crowd. The government is being careful to ensure that no untoward situation arises during the immersion process; therefore, IPS officers have been deployed to supervise the arrangements.