BLO found hanging in Kolkata, senior citizen 'dies of SIR anxiety' in Murshidabad

Kolkata: A booth-level officer in the city and a senior citizen in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district died on Thursday, allegedly under pressure related to the ongoing SIR, police said.

The BLO, identified as Ashok Das, was found hanging at his residence in the Mukundapur area in the southern part of Kolkata. In the other incident, a sexagenarian died due to a heart attack at Samserganj in Murshidabad district.

Several deaths, including suicides, have been reported in the state in recent weeks, allegedly triggered by anxiety linked to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.

Das, an assistant teacher at Baharu High School in Joynagar, South 24 Parganas district, was declared brought dead when taken to a private hospital, a police officer said.

His family members alleged that he had been under "tremendous pressure" due to SIR-related work, the officer added.

"He was assigned as a BLO for Booth No. 110 at Chit Kalikapur FP School in Purba Jadavpur as part of the ongoing SIR exercise in the state," he said.

Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma visited Das' residence and reviewed the situation, stating that an investigation has been initiated to ascertain the circumstances leading to the death.

In the second incident, the family of 60-year-old Putu Sheikh in Samserganj alleged that he died due to anxiety caused by SIR hearing notices.

"The deceased, identified as Putu Sheikh, was a resident of Rameswarpur Chachand village under Samserganj police station," a police officer said.

According to the family, SIR hearing notices were issued to several members, and at least one notice allegedly bore an incorrect spelling of the deceased's name.

On Thursday, while other family members went to attend the hearing, Sheikh remained alone at home and reportedly suffered a heart attack.

Police said both matters are under investigation.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on January 12 wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar that the SIR exercise "has already seen 77 deaths with 4 attempts to suicide and 17 persons falling sick and necessitating hospitalisation," attributing it to "fear, intimidation and disproportionate workload due to unplanned exercise undertaken by ECI".