SIR panic deepens in Bengal: 4 more deaths reported, toll rises to 14

Kolkata/Jalpaiguri: With four more deaths and two attempted suicides, the toll linked to the SIR-related panic in Bengal has risen to 14.

On Friday, a 49-year-old sex worker, Biti Das, was found hanging in her home in the Garbagan red-light area near Sheoraphuli Station in Hooghly district.

In Dhupguri, an 80-year-old man, Laluram Barman, reportedly suffered a heart attack while a Booth Level Officer was visiting his house for voter verification. The deceased, Laluram Barman (80), had migrated from Bangladesh in 1994 and settled in the area as a refugee. Although he later received an Aadhaar card, his name was never added to the electoral roll — an issue that had long caused him anxiety.

Family members said Laluram had been deeply distressed since the SIR process began, fearing that his missing name could raise questions about his citizenship.

His daughter-in-law, Moti Mala Barman, said: “My father-in-law’s name was not on the 2002 voter list, and he never had a voter ID card. When the BLO came home to distribute the forms, he panicked and suddenly fell ill. Within minutes, he passed away.”

The BLO of booth number 170, Sumit Das, confirmed the incident.

In the Sheoraphuli death case, locals said Biti Das’s name was missing and her connection with her parents was lost; she was in fear of being detained. Police recovered the body and sent it for a post-mortem examination.

On receiving the news, local leaders, including Champdani MLA and Hoogly Organisational District President Arindam Guha, Baidyabati Municipality Chairman Pintu Mahato, and the local councillor, reached the spot. Arindam Guha claimed that this ongoing process of SIR left her anxious for days.

Expressing their grievances, Trinamool Congress, on Friday, posted, “SIR is not an instrument of electoral accuracy, it is a weapon of electoral erasure,” as yet another wave of fear and tragedy gripped Bengal with four more deaths and one attempted suicide reported, allegedly related to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

In Kalicharanpur village under Dhola Gram Panchayat of Kulpi, 45-year-old Shahabuddin Paik suffered a fatal heart attack. His name and that of his wife were missing from the 2002 voter list, which had left him deeply worried for days. The panic intensified when discrepancies were found in his wife’s documents. Due to some illness he was admitted to a local hospital on Thursday and was later transferred to Diamond Harbour Government Medical College, where he died in the evening. Following Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s instructions, MP Bapi Halder and MLA Jogaranjan Halder visited the hospital and held the Centre and Election Commission responsible for the growing fear.

In another case, Biman Pramanik, a resident of Ward 14 of Sainthia Municipality, also died of a heart attack after extreme stress over a surname error in the 2002 voter list. His and his elder sister’s surname had been incorrectly listed as “Pal” instead of “Pramanik” in the record. Despite reaching out to the local councillor and BLO to correct it, he reportedly spent three days in deep mental distress. On Wednesday evening, he complained of chest pain and collapsed. Doctors at Sainthia State General Hospital declared him dead on arrival. His family squarely blamed anxiety over the SIR for his untimely death.

In a related incident in Khardaha, 39-year-old Akbar Ali attempted suicide by consuming poison after discovering his name was missing from the 2002 voter list during SIR-related verification. He was rescued by his wife and neighbours and is now under medical care.

As the Trinamool post emphasised: “Its hasty, reckless rollout has unleashed an atmosphere of FEAR and DESPAIR across Bengal, driving people to the brink and claiming innocent lives… History will remember this as a calculated assault on DEMOCRACY and HUMANITY.”

Also, on Friday, alleging inconsistency between the chief election commissioner’s (CEC) recent remarks and the written instructions issued to booth level officers (BLOs) for the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, TMC wrote to the state’s chief electoral officer (CEO) stating that confusion was allegedly prevailing.

The ruling party in the state alleged that while CEC Gyanesh Kumar, during a press conference on October 27, had said that blood relatives such as uncles could be mentioned in SIR forms but the written instructions and software interface restrict the permissible ‘relative’ category to parents and grandparents only.