Hotel fire in Kolkata: Bangladeshi journalist dies along with wife, children, father-in-law

POBNEWS24, Dhaka Aug 19, 2026 : Journalist couple Debashish Dutta and Afshana Shimmin were waiting to return home after undergoing treatment in India. Who knew that a stopover in Kolkata on their way back from Bengaluru would be the last chapter of their lives! Debashish Dutta (40), his wife Afshana Shimmin (28), three-year-old son Sharanshish Dutta and father-in-law Md. Akram Ali (64) from Kushtia, Bangladesh, lost their lives in a horrific fire at a residential hotel in Kolkata.
In this tragic incident, a shadow of grief has descended on Kushtia after losing four members of the same family. Relatives, colleagues and acquaintances are mourning. The relatives are unable to accept such a sudden death of four family members.
The news of the death of Debashish Dutta and his family members in a fire at a hotel in Kolkata reached Kushtia on Wednesday morning. After the news spread, a shadow of grief descended on fellow journalists, relatives and locals.
The deceased Debashish Dutta was a journalist by profession. He was working as the Kushtia correspondent of Ajker Patrika and Channel Nine. He was also the acting editor of the local daily Ajker Alo Patrika. Earlier, he worked as the Kushtia correspondent for various national dailies including Asian Television and Nagorik TV.
Gazi Mahbub Rahman, editor of the daily Ajker Alo Patrika, confirmed the death of Debashish Dutta and four members of his family.
According to local sources, on August 13, Debashish Dutta went to Bangalore, India, for treatment with his wife Afshana Shimmin, three-year-old son Sharanshish and father-in-law Md. Akram Ali. After receiving treatment there, they returned to Kolkata on Tuesday (August 18). Then they checked into a residential hotel.
A terrible fire broke out in the hotel on Tuesday night. The fire spread quickly and trapped some people staying in the hotel. Four members of his family, including Debashish Dutta, lost their lives. They were supposed to return to Bangladesh on August 19.
The most brutal reality was that the family’s eight-year-old daughter Pakhi was at home in Kushtia. As a result, she was not in India with her father, mother, younger brother and maternal grandfather at the time of the fire. Her world seemed to be empty after losing her parents, younger brother and maternal grandfather in a span of a few hours.
Among the deceased in the Kolkata fire were eight Bangladeshis and one Indian citizen. Various media outlets including India’s PTI and NDTV also reported the death of eight Bangladeshi citizens in the fire.
It is learned that the deceased Bangladeshis returned to Kolkata on August 18 after receiving treatment at Narayana Hospital in Bengaluru. Before returning home, they were staying at the residential hotel in Kolkata.
After the news of Debashish Dutta’s death spread, an atmosphere of mourning descended on the journalist community in Kushtia. Colleagues are remembering him as a responsible and active journalist. Local journalists, colleagues and people from different walks of life expressed deep sorrow over his death and expressed condolences to the bereaved family.
It is worth noting that a fire broke out in a residential hotel on Mirza Ghalib Street early on Wednesday morning. Nine people lost their lives. Eight of the deceased were Bangladeshis, according to the Bangladesh Embassy.
The local fire brigade said that the hotel did not have adequate firefighting equipment. Environmental organizations in Kolkata say that none of the hotels adjacent to New Market have any permits. In particular, there are old tire shops and chemical shops on both sides of the “Gulshan Lodge” on Colin Street. How is the lodge being operated in such a terrible environment? There are many other such residential hotels, said Samiran Mallick, president of the Environmental Organization of Kolkata.