South Dinajpur: 65-yr-old found dead, kin blames voter list confusion

BALURGHAT: A fresh incident of alleged unnatural death amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise has triggered tension in South Dinajpur’s Kumarganj. The hanging body of 65-year-old Osman Mondal was recovered from his residence in the Agacha region under Ramkrishna Gram Panchayat on Monday night. Allegations have surfaced that confusion over his surname in voter documents led to severe anxiety, pushing him to suicide.

According to family sources, Osman had been under mental stress for several weeks after noticing discrepancies between his surname on the voter card and the voter list—“Molla” in one and “Mondal” in the other. Despite repeated visits to local representatives for rectification, he allegedly failed to get the issue resolved.

On Monday night, after other family members went to bed, Osman reportedly went to a nearby garden and took his own life. The matter came to light on Tuesday morning when the family found his body.

Soon after the incident, local Trinamool Congress leaders reached the spot, blaming the SIR process for spreading panic among common people.

“The BJP must take responsibility for this death,” said local TMC leader Nikhil Singha. However, BJP’s district general secretary Bapi Sarkar refuted the allegation, stating: “The Trinamool is branding every death as SIR-related suicide. Most of these cases have different underlying causes.”

Police from Kumarganj station reached the scene on Tuesday morning and sent the body to Balurghat District Hospital for post-mortem examination. Officers said an investigation has been initiated to determine the exact cause of death.

Golap Mondal, nephew of the deceased claimed: “My uncle had been living under constant fear about proving his citizenship since the SIR process began, which may have led to the tragedy.”