Man found hanging in Bengal's Dakshin Dinajpur, family alleges suicide over fear of SIR process

Kolkata: A 65-year-old man in West Bengal's Dakshin Dinajpur district was found hanging at his home on Tuesday morning, with his family claiming he took his life fearing complications over discrepancies in his voter records, police said.

The ruling Trinamool Congress has claimed that 17 people have died in the state due to the shock and anxiety following the announcement of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The deceased, identified as Osman Mondal, a resident of Aghacha under Dhangarhat panchayat in Kumarganj block, had reportedly been anxious for several days over a mismatch in his surname on official documents, his family claimed.

"The deceased's voter identity card mentioned his name as Osman Molla, while the 2002 electoral rolls listed him as Osman Mondal. His family members said he had been worried that the difference could create problems during scrutiny under the ongoing SIR and was afraid he might be declared a foreigner," police said.

"Despite visiting various offices to get the discrepancy corrected, he failed to resolve the issue, his family members have claimed," the police officer claimed.

Police recovered the deceased's body from his home and sent it for post-mortem examination.

Kumarganj Trinamool Congress MLA Toraf Hossain Mondal alleged that "a conspiracy is being carried out in the name of SIR to harass and expel Muslims from the country," and demanded a thorough probe into the incident.