Kuridi, a hamlet in Bankura, and KP Roy Lane, a slip road off the Tollygunge thoroughfare, were bound by a death-and-life drama on Thursday afternoon.

If one housed the parents of a man given the glimpse of a fresh lease of life, the other was the address of a hangman denied.

The sleepy cluster in the Chhatna police station area came alive after news of the presidential breather for an infamous resident filtered through.

The five thatched huts, not far from the Sushunia hills, played host to frenzied activity as people, police and mediapersons swamped the mud-and-brick home of Dhananjoy Chatterjee.

Brother Bikash Chatterjee, who got the news at Midnapore railway station, said: “At one point, I had given up on him but then I realised that he was safe… I am so happy.”

Back home, their father Bangsidhar Chatterjee was lying despondent in the courtyard. Mother Belarani was feeble and fainting, having gone without food for nine days, said relatives.

As news of the stay on their son’s hanging reached the two, they were almost too weak to rejoice. After sipping some water from a spoon, the father managed to whisper: “Our rajyapita (governor) and deshpita (President of India) have stayed the death sentence of my son. I would like to bless them and pray to them that they bring my son back to us.”

Far closer to Dhananjoy, lodged in Alipore jail, the mood was quite different outside a house in Tollygunge where, too, a crowd had gathered.

Inside, Nata Mullick was “quite disappointed” having heard of the stay.

“I was ready… I had been told that a government vehicle would come around 4 pm on Thursday to take me and my assistants to the jail for last-minute activities, like checking the noose, inspecting the scaffolding prepared by the public works department and to go through the entire routine,” said the 83-year-old hangman.

Having agreed to hang Dhananjoy — his 25th assignment — on condition that his grandson Prabhat be given a job, Mullick appeared worried about the future.

“They will not give me my fees (now that the hanging has been stalled) but how can they deny my grandson a job?” demanded the hangman, who had been assured Rs 10,000 for Friday’s execution.

“I even met the minister in charge of social welfare and jails, Biswanath Chowdhury, on Wednesday and it was finalised that my grandson would join his department from July 1. And everyone knows about the job offered to him,” he added.