Kolkata: BLO ‘under adjudication’ dies, kin blame SIR pressure

KOLKATA: Another booth level officer (BLO), Mohammad Tahir (50), died of heart attack on Sunday. Family members alleged that mounting work pressure, coupled with the discovery of his own name on "under adjudication" list and persistent harassment from affected voters, led to a fatal heart attack.

Tahir was a resident of the Anwar Bagan area under ward number 7 of Kamarhati Municipality. He served as the BLO for booth 69 and held supervisory responsibility for booths 57 to 64.




His family and neighbours said, Tahir repeatedly spoke about the intense workload during the revision process.

When the final electoral roll under the SIR was published on Saturday, Tahir's own name reportedly appeared as "under adjudication".

"At the same time, several voters whose names were marked ‘deleted' or ‘under adjudication' began contacting him for clarification and assistance. He was under severe mental stress following the publication of the list," a family member said.

Family sources said that around 3.30 pm on Sunday, Tahir sat outside his house when he suddenly complained of discomfort and collapsed. He suffered a heart attack and died on the spot. He was rushed to a private hospital in Belgharia, where he was declared brought dead.

His neighbour, Nizamuddin, said: "Tahir was handling his duties as a BLO and also supervising multiple booths. Between the pressure from EC and voters, how much can one person endure?"