India, Oct. 23 -- Panic triggered by an announcement is suspected to have led to the fatal stampede at the Chor Bagan Durga Puja pandal of West Bengal's Kolkata on October 17. Sanjib Raha, part of the organising committee of the Chor Bagan Durga Puja pandal, was arrested on Thursday for allegedly making the announcement over a loudspeaker that the pandal was about to collapse, triggering panic and the crowd-crush that killed 19 people during Durga Puja celebrations.

Raha was arrested in Nadia and brought to Kolkata.

A surge in crowds amid heavy rain triggered the stampede at one of north Kolkata's most popular Durga Puja venues, as visitors jostled through a narrow bylane on Saptami, the seventh day of the festival.

A police officer sa...