5 of a Meghalaya family among 9 killed in Tarapith fire
Times of India | 18 August 2026
Kolkata: Madhavi Modak from Shibabari village in Garo Hills of Meghalaya, undergoing treatment at Rampurhat Hospital, did not know that the Tarapith hotel fire took away her entire pilgrimage group of five, including her husband and 10-year-old son. They had put up at the five-storied Bideshini Hotel with Ganesh Dey and his wife Jharna on Sunday.
Ganesh Dey, Modak’s distant relative, who is also undergoing treatment with his wife at the hospital, struggled to speak on call as he was yet to come to terms with the reality that five of their 11-member group from Meghalaya lost their lives in the fire. His kin who answered the call said, “Madhavi does not know that her husband, Buran and son Shivraj are no more. She also sustained burn injuries and is undergoing treatment. Three other deceased - Rajendra Nath, his wife Asha and child Aushnath were also Dey’s relatives.”
The fire at the hotel claimed the lives of at least nine people - five from Meghalaya while the rest were from Alipurduar. The victims were asleep when the fire, suspected to be caused by an AC short circuit in the reception, blazed through their ground-floor rooms.
Kamal Roy (39), a resident of Alipurduar, who drove a family to Tarapith, put up at the same hotel along with them as he had also planned to visit the temple on Monday morning along with them. Roy was among those declared brought dead at Rampurhat Hospital after the fire gutted the hotel and killed several boarders, mostly pilgrims, at the crack of dawn.
His nephew Sanjib Roy told TOI: “I had spoken to him around 8pm yesterday and today I received a call from the police informing me that he has been charred to death. Why did the hotel not have proper fire fighting equipment? Their negligence in complying with fire safety norms turned the hotel into a death trap for my uncle and several other pilgrims,” he said.
Kamal worked as a truck helper when he was younger and for the past 15 years he worked as a driver. “His wife works as a domestic help in Siliguri and he has two children. His son is in class 5 and his daughter is in class 1. His wife is on her way to the hospital,” said the mourning nephew.
Rajesh Sharma another victim from Alipurduar also succumbed to his injuries at the hospital, said officials. Two others from Alipurduar, Amit Pal and Subir Saha were also killed in the fire. Partha Pratim Ghosh, a councillor of Alipurduar Municipality said, “I knew the three victims from Alipurduar. Subir Saha, an LIC agent, was my friend.”
The kin of the deceased as well as injured devotees flocked to the hospital in search of the pilgrims who had booked rooms in the hotel.