Shopping day ends in nightmare as fire claims B’deshi scribe’s family
Times of India | 20 August 2026
Kolkata: Tuesday evening was marked with joy for Kushtia resident Debasish Dutta as he and his family picked out new clothes for Durga Puja along the alleys of New Market.
Barely seven hours after the shopping outing, the bodies of the family of four — Debasish, his wife Afsana, the couple’s three-year-old son Swarnasish and Afsana’s father Akram Ali — were recovered from the Free School Street lodge that caught fire in the wee hours of Wednesday.
Debasish, a journalist who worked at a Bangladeshi daily and TV channel, had travelled to India with his family for some medical treatment.
He had a doctor’s appointment booked on Wednesday for his father-in-law in Kolkata’s Narayana Hospital.
The Duttas had travelled to Bengaluru on Aug 4 for Afsana and Swarnasish’s check-ups, said Malda resident Krishna Nandi, a relative of Debasish. The couple, however, had left their 10-year-old daughter Debolina back in Kushtia with her grandparents, Dilip and Swapna Dutta. On Monday, the family reached Kolkata and checked into the ill-fated Shikha Inn.
“Debasish had spoken to his parents and daughter around 9.30pm after they returned from shopping. I can’t believe they passed away in this manner. How will we console his elderly parents, or that little girl?” lamented Krishna, who had been asked to come to Kolkata to identify the bodies at the police morgue.
Debasish’s cousin Sampa Ghosh has a heavier burden to carry. “They were supposed to visit our Birati home in a day or two. I had made so many plans to feed Swarnasish. And now… I will have to send four coffins across the border.”
Bangladesh authorities would transfer the coffins from the border to Kushtia, Sampa said.
Towhidi Hasan, a journalist of another Bangladesh daily, still can’t believe how his friend’s life was snuffed out. “I was among those who had organised Debasish and Afsana’s wedding. The two were so upbeat about their India trip. And now… what would I tell Debolina?” Hasan told TOI from Bangladesh.
Besides the Dutta family, another Bangladeshi, Babu Ahmed, lost his life in Wednesday’s fire. Another two deceased, Sandip Paswan and Yog Narayan Aggarwal, were from Bihar and Siliguri respectively. Cops are trying to identify two more bodies.
Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata has opened a helpline to provide emergency services and facilitate communication with the families of those killed or injured in the fire tragedy.
Md Omar Faruk Akand, second secretary at the mission who visited the police morgue, stated, “The documents of the deceased have been checked and the inquest process has started. When their relatives or family members come from Bangladesh, we will verify their identities and hand over the bodies to them.”