SIR panic claims another life in North 24-Parganas

Kolkata: Fear over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process continues to haunt Bengal, as another tragic death was reported from Garulia’s Sodal Tank Road in North 24-Parganas. The deceased, identified as Suman Majumdar (32), a toto driver, was found hanging in his rented house late Tuesday night.

Police from Noapara station and local councillor Pankaj Das reached the spot soon after, he stated: “The suicide note contains many reasons behind his suicide, one of the main reasons is the fear regarding SIR.” The body was sent to Barrackpore’s BN Bose Sub-Divisional Hospital for post-mortem.

Suman’s mother, Deepa Majumdar, said the local BLO had visited their home Tuesday morning and handed them the enumeration form. Lacking the necessary documents, Suman had reportedly been anxious all day.

With this, the number of deaths allegedly linked to SIR panic across Bengal has risen to 18, following similar tragedies reported recently in Nadia and Hooghly.

The ruling party has set up help camps in many areas to assist distressed citizens with the verification process and has also launched a special support initiative following the instructions of the party’s national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, to visit and offer assistance to the families of those who allegedly died due to SIR-related anxiety.