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Kolkata, Oct 30 (IANS) Following an incident in Panihati in North 24 Parganas district, another person has reportedly died by suicide in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, reportedly spooked by the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the state’s voter list initiated by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
According to police, a 95-year-old man allegedly took his life in Illambazar area of Birbhum district on Thursday as he feared that his name would be removed from the voter list during the revision process.
Birbhum Superintendent of Police Amandeep said, “We have learned that an elderly man from West Midnapore district has committed suicide in Ilambazar, Birbhum. His name is Kshitish Majumdar. He had come to his relative’s house in Ilambazar police station area. We have learned that the reason for suicide appears to be related to the fear of SIR. However, no written complaint has been filed by the family so far.”
Police sources said that on Thursday morning, the body of an elderly person was found hanging from a house in Subhashpalli School Garden, Ilambazar. The deceased was originally a resident of Kora Para village under Kotwali police station in West Midnapore district and was living at his daughter’s house in Ilambazar for the last five to six months.
Family members claimed that Majumdar was very worried after the announcement of SIR of West Bengal voter list by the ECI. His name was missing from the 2002 voter list, he said, and he feared being declared a foreigner and deported back to Bangladesh.
Nirmala Majumdar, relative of the deceased, told media persons, “He used to live here for a long time. His name was not in the voter list of 2002. Many years ago, he came to India from Bangladesh and faced immense difficulties. He was afraid that at this age he would be sent back to Bangladesh. He had become very depressed.”
This is the second alleged incident in the state where a person has allegedly taken his own life due to fear related to the SIR process.
Earlier this week, Pradeep Kar, a resident of Panihati in North 24 Parganas district, allegedly committed suicide on Tuesday over fear of the NRC-SIR exercise, as mentioned in a suicide note recovered by the police. Trinamool Congress (TMC) had strongly criticized the BJP-led central government and the ECI over Kar’s death.
Meanwhile, in another incident, a 60-year-old man, identified as Khairul Shaikh of Dinhata in North Bengal’s Cooch Behar district, allegedly attempted suicide by consuming poison on Wednesday, fearing that his name would be removed from the voter list during the SIR.
According to Sheikh’s family members, they were worried that due to a spelling error in his name in the 2002 voter list, his name might be removed from the revised voter list. Groundwork for the SIR exercise is scheduled to begin on 4 November.
–IANS
SH/PGH