Kolkata: After Durga Puja stampede this year, Chorbagan residents faced another major scare on Kali Puja-Diwali night (Sunday).A cracker-induced fire broke out at a makeshift shop around midnight. The residents themselves put out the fire in about 10 minutes. The fire fighters were not called in.The Girish Park police said the fire began close to midnight at the temporary store located at the pandal exit, very close to the area where the stampede took place and has been preserved by the SIT led by a retired judge in order to complete the investigation.“The locals, who were attending the Kali Puja at a nearby house, had spotted the fire,” said an officer. The area, where the fire broke out, has several other makeshift shops. “We have been getting requests from locals to dismantle the pandal (where stampede occurred). But that is not for us to decide. We are preparing a report, which will be forwarded to the SIT,” said a police officer. The locals, meanwhile, fear fire incidents with the pandal still being kept intact.
