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Kolkata, Oct 29 (IANS) Khairul Shaikh, a 60-year-old man resident of Dinhata in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district, allegedly tried to commit suicide by consuming poison on Wednesday fearing that his name would be removed from the voter list following the special intensive revision (SIR) in the state, the ground work for which will begin from November 4.
His family members have told police and media persons that, although Sheikh’s name was in the voter list of 2002, the year the SIR was last conducted in West Bengal, his name was misspelled in that list.
According to Sheikh’s family members, he feared that his name would be removed from the voter list due to a mistake in the spelling of his name in the 2002 list.
Confirming the development, the new district superintendent of police, Sandeep Karra, told media persons that according to Shaikh’s family members, ever since the SIR for West Bengal was announced by the ECI earlier this week, he had started panicking.
Karra said, “The police have started investigating the matter. He is currently undergoing treatment. After his recovery, we will examine him and learn from him the reasons behind his actions.”
Cooch Behar District President of Trinamool Congress, Avijit Dey said that this incident is proof of the kind of panic there is among the common people regarding SIR.
Dey said, “I heard that some people told Shaikh that due to the mistake in the spelling of his name in the 2022 list, his name would be removed from the voter list after the fresh SIR, and he would also be deported to Bangladesh. Fearing this, he tried to commit suicide.”
BJP MLA from Cooch Behar (North) constituency Sukumar Roy said that even if Sheikh attempted suicide due to fear, the Trinamool Congress is responsible for it as the party is responsible for spreading a false sense of fear among the people about the SIR.
On Tuesday, a 57-year-old man named Pradeep Kar committed suicide in Panihati in North 24 Parganas district, allegedly out of fear of being affected by the possible National Register of Citizens (NRC) in West Bengal.
The BJP had already raised doubts over whether the suicide note recovered near his body was actually written by the deceased and also demanded a proper investigation into the real reason behind the suicide.
On Tuesday, both Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee accused the BJP and the central government of using the NRC as a tool to spread a sense of fear and division where people often doubt their right to exist, a reflection of which was felt in Kar’s suicide.
Right from the beginning, the Trinamool Congress leadership was calling the SIR an indirect ploy by the BJP and the Central government to implement NRC in West Bengal.
–IANS
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