Bengal’s Kumbh toll climbs to 4, no trace of 4 others
Times of India | 1 February 2025
123456 Malda/Siliguri/Suri: The Bengal death toll in the Kumbh stampede rose to four on Friday. Four more Bengal residents, including one from Kolkata, are still missing. The toll increased as the body of 33-year-old Malda school teacher, Amiya Saha, reached his Baishnabnagar home on Friday morning. Saha, who teaches in a primary school in Birnagar, was caught in the stampede and had trouble breathing. He died at a local Prayagraj hospital in Uttar Pradesh.
Dilip Saha, his uncle, who was also in the 10-member team that visited Kumbh from this village, said they had reached Prayagraj on Jan 28. During the stampede, Amiya got separated from his team. He, however, managed to rejoin them but complained of severe chest pain and breathing difficulties. "We were not issued any death certificate, and no postmortem was done," said Saha. MLA Chandana Sakar, who went to meet the Saha family, lashed out at the UP govt's indifference to the pilgrims.
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But the family of 72-year-old Amal Poddar, a Siliguri resident, has denied social media reports that he died in the stampede. The family, in a statement, said Poddar did go to Prayagraj, but he had an existing cardiac condition and succumbed to cardiac arrest, not linked to the stampede. In south Kolkata's Purba Putiary, yet another day passed with no news of 52-year-old Subir Naskar, who has been missing since the stampede. His brother Subhas Naskar said they tried to contact the Prayagraj administration but did not get any information. "The (UP) police station that is speaking to us is located 18 km away from the spot where my brother went missing. My nephew and niece have volunteered to go, but I am apprehensive whether they will get help from the UP Police," Subhas said. Two Malda women, Sumati Ghosh (65), an English Bazaar resident, and Kushumi Choudhury (65), a Sovanagar resident, are still missing.
However, there was news of hope. The two women from Siliguri—Putul Roy (47) of Samar Nagar, and Darshana Devi Bansal (65) of Punjabi Para in Siliguri, who went missing , have been found and are expected to arrive at NJP late on Friday.