Suicide, heart attack: Two deaths in West Bengal 'linked' to SIR; kin cite anxiety, pressure

NEW DELHI: Two deaths allegedly linked to pressure from the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls took place on Thursday in West Bengal, officials said. A booth-level officer, Ashok Das, and a 60-year-old senior citizen, Putu Sheikh, lost their lives amid growing anxiety over the SIR exercise.

Das, an assistant teacher at Baharu High School in Joynagar, South 24 Parganas, was found hanging at his residence in Mukundapur, southern Kolkata. He was declared brought dead at a private hospital, a police officer said. His family alleged that he had been under "tremendous pressure" due to SIR-related work.




“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,” the officer added, as quoted by ANI.

Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma visited Das’ residence and said an investigation has been initiated to ascertain the circumstances leading to the death.

In Murshidabad district, Putu Sheikh, a resident of Rameswarpur Chachand village under Samserganj police station, died of a heart attack. According to his family, SIR hearing notices were issued to several members, and at least one notice allegedly bore an incorrect spelling of Sheikh’s name. “The deceased, identified as Putu Sheikh, was a resident of Rameswarpur Chachand village under Samserganj police station,” a police officer said. While other family members attended the hearing, Sheikh remained at home and reportedly suffered a heart attack.

Several deaths, including suicides, have been reported in the state in recent weeks, allegedly triggered by anxiety linked to the ongoing SIR exercise.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, in a letter to Chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on January 12, said 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.”