States » EastPosted at: Oct 19 2026 11:24PM


My son kept the entire village lively: Ahead of CM visit, father lamented

Burdwan, Oct 19 (UNI) Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari is scheduled to visit the bereaved Birpur family in Madhabdihi PS area here on Tuesday.
Ahead of the visit, the entire village has been wrapped in a security blanket. Roads are being repaired, security arrangements reviewed, senior administrative officials visiting repeatedly, and a temporary helipad being prepared.
"My daughter is my only hope now, everything is over. My son used to keep the entire para lively." Fourteen year-old Sandeep Bej's father Sanjoy Bej, a part-time vendor could not hold back tears on Ashtami evening.
Sandeep, a Class VIII student of Birpur Pasanda High School and resident of the small village, was described by everyone as extremely jovial, a boy who kept the whole village cheerful. He did not want to leave the village for Kolkata.
"On Thursday, he still went holding his mother Tagor Bej and sister Agomoni's hands along with his uncle and aunt. He told his sister Agomoni, 'I won't find any playmates there.' He went only because he could not stay without his mother," Sripada Bej, the grandfather of the deceased boy narrated today.
On Sunday, Sandeep returned, but in a coffin. The mother he could not leave, also returned in a coffin. Agomoni, by chance, survived the Chorabagan pandal mass stampede miraculously. Three members of the family - Sandeep Bej, his mother Tagor Bej, and his aunt Piyali Pramanik were trampled at Chorabagan pandal.
Sister Agomani, still in trauma, recalled: "While coming out after seeing the idol, I felt immense pressure. I was in front, mother behind me holding my brother's hand. At one point mother downed her head on my shoulder. I thought she fainted. Then I also fainted. I couldn't see my brother then. At Kolkata hospital I heard mother and brother died."
The village's only Durga Puja - Panchgram Durga Puja comprising five paras was holding a cultural programme. As the shocking information reached, the programme was stopped, megaphones switched off immediately.
Resident Ram Kumar Bhattacharya said: "While going to school he (Sandeep) saw the pandal being made, he was excited. He would celebrate Puja. But he could not."
Another resident Raju Gorai said: "There is an atmosphere of mourning. Dhak is being played only for rituals. There is no joy. All festive programmes have been withheld."
UNI HJ SSP CDS
Tags: #My son kept the entire village lively: Ahead of CM visit# father lamented
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