Five persons drowned when one of the two boats carrying a massive idol of goddess Durga for immersion overturned in Beldanga’s Dumnidaha lake on Monday evening.

The Durga idol was from Beldanga’s famed 350-year-old Hazrabari Puja, two of whose family members were among the deceased.

Police said the deceased — Mohor Hazra Banerjee, 34, Somnath Hazra Banerjee, 23, Arindam Banerjee, 23, Tinkon Pal, 23 and Sukhendu Dey, 20 — had possibly gone under the weight of the idol as it had fall into the water when one of the boats, both tied together to carry the idol, capsized.

The five persons were initially not even counted missing in the chaos. “Prima facie, it seems most members of the immersion party were intoxicated and the (two) boats were overloaded with revellers. The Hazrabari puja was the only one to be allowed a boat immersion on the grounds of tradition. The water was not more than 5ft deep where the incident occurred. The deaths possibly happened because the deceased persons had come under the huge weight of the idol when it fell into the water,” said a police officer.

Over 30 persons of the immersion party fell into the lake along with the idol but were able to get out of the water.

On returning home, puja organisers found five persons who had accompanied them on the boat were missing. They informed the cops and a search was launched in the lake.

Around 9pm on Monday, all the five bodies were fished out and sent for post-mortem.

District superintendent of police K. Sabari Rajkumar has ordered a probe.

Eyewitnesses, including the boatmen who survived, said the incident could easily have been averted had the police present at the time of immersion restricted the number of people who had boarded the two boats.

“I have been plying boats for many years and have repeatedly told the puja revellers to keep their numbers low on the boat and not to drink, but to no avail. The boat had overturned because of overcrowding,” said boatman Atmaram Haldar, 60.

Asked, district superintendent of police K. Sabari Rajkumar said: “This was the sole procession that was granted permission to use boats on the grounds of tradition, but such a large number of people should not have been on the boats. We are awaiting the post-mortem results.”

Asked why so many people were allowed to board the boat, Rajkumar said: “Around 25 police personnel, including three officers, had been deployed on immersion duty in Beldanga. They were present on the spot when the incident happened. I have asked to hold an inquiry into how the incident took place and if there were any lapse on the part of the cops on duty.”

Another death

In Nadia's Hogolberia, a third-year BA student, Bibhash Das, 20, drowned in a pond when Durga idol apparently fell on him during immersion on Monday evening. The body of Bibhash Das, 20, was recovered from the pond on Tuesday morning. The incident occurred in Nasirerepara village. Bibhash, a student of Dumkal College, was initially making a live video of the immersion procession, but later joined hands to carry the idol for immersion in the water. “Since the idol was too heavy, the carriers failed to manage its weight and we apprehend it eventually fell on Bibhash and some others,” said Sayan Ghosh, a close friend of the deceased.

Police sources said the body could be retrieved only after the idol’s structure of bamboo and timber was removed from the river.