MP, 31 Jan 2025, Kolkata: Two women from south Bengal—Basanti Poddar of Kolkata and Urmila Bhuniya from West Midnapore—are among those who died at Maha Kumbh. A woman from north Bengal’s Siliguri and another from Malda have gone missing following the stampede at Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj.
A man from Siliguri, however, died of cardiac arrest at the Maha Kumbh. Families of the two deceased women from south Bengal, who were among those killed in a stampede in Maha Kumbha, alleged on Thursday that the bodies were handed over to them at Prayagraj without death certificates.
They claimed that they received only a piece of paper mentioning that the body was given to the family members. Senior Cabinet minister in Bengal Aroop Biswas alleged that “total mismanagement” prevailed in the Maha Kumbh.
Basanti Poddar of Golf Green succumbed to injuries suffered during the rush to take a holy dip on the occasion of ‘Mauni Amavasya’ on Wednesday. Poddar’s son Surajit said he was in Prayagraj and arrangements were being made to bring her mother’s body back to Kolkata. “We were going towards the Sangam Ghat.
No policeman was there at the time of the incident. We were standing and suddenly there was a mad rush of thousands of people from nowhere,” Surajit said, adding “We were taken to a medical college. I was given a vehicle and a policeman.
No death certificate has been issued. They have told me that the death certificate would be sent to the local police station here.” He also claimed that the note he was handed over had no official stamp nor was it signed by any official of the Uttar Pradesh government.
Urmila Bhuniya, a resident of Salboni in West Midnapore also died in the stampede at the Maha Kumbh. Her younger brother Dulal said no death certificate was issued for his sister by the UP government.
“No death certificate was issued. I came to know about the incident when my nephew called me. They are coming back in a vehicle. My nephew told me that no death certificate was issued and the body was handed over to him along with a note,’’ Dulal said.
Aroop Biswas blamed the UP government for the stampede incident calling it a result of “total mismanagement”. “The Uttar Pradesh government has failed to organise the Mela. It’s only an advertisement. There was no plan for the safety and security of the pilgrims. They should have handed over the death certificate. This is not the right process,” said Biswas. https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/bengal-poised-to-unveil-new-defence-manufacturing-policy-during-bgbs-596919
