'UP officials' reach stampede victims' West Bengal homes with Rs 5 lakh

KOLKATA: Families of two people from Bengal who died in the Kumbh mela stampede on Jan 29 received a knock on the door and Rs 5 lakh in cash from people claiming to be UP administration officials. The money was handed over to them in brown envelopes on Monday (March 17).

The men - presumably the same set, three of whom were in police uniform and one in formals - told the families that the cash was "the first component of the total compensation" and then made them sign a paper, saying they had received Rs 5 lakh each.

The relatives of West Burdwan resident Bidhan Ruidas (42) and Birbhum's Gayatri Dey (60) accepted the money but faced problems at banks where officials asked them to explain how and where the cash came from. Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath had announced compensation of Rs 25 lakh each for the families of the stampede victims. Four of the 30 people who died were from Bengal.

Bengal govt officials said they did not know anything about the compensation and expressed surprise that the sum was being paid in cash. Kumbh mela district magistrate Vijay Kiran Anand, too, denied any knowledge of money being disbursed like this. Family members of Bidhan & Gayatri told TOI on Saturday that the men gave them bundles of Rs 500 notes. The declaration they had got the money had to be signed along with the recipient's thumb impression.

Bidhan's wife Sharmila said the men came along with a local BJP representative. Sharmila faced problems depositing the money in bank Thursday. "They allowed me to deposit the money but asked me to furnish supporting documents mentioning source of the cash."