A 70-year-old man died in West Bengal’s Nadia district on Monday, with his family alleging that the death resulted from anxiety linked to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, police said.
The deceased, identified as Shyamal Kumar Saha, a hawker and resident of Krishnachakpur Mandalpara under Taherpur Police Station, had reportedly stopped eating due to distress over the SIR process, they added.
“Family members claimed that the deceased had stopped eating food after learning his name was missing from the 2002 voters' list. They also claimed that he had all the valid documents. We have come across the death, but there is no official communication from the family in connection with it,” police officials said.
Investigations revealed that Saha, despite possessing all valid identity documents—including a voter card, Aadhaar card, PAN card, and property papers—had been anxious ever since the announcement of the SIR exercise.
“He barely ate and worried constantly,” his wife said.
Local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders and panchayat members visited Saha’s family following his death.
The ongoing SIR of electoral rolls is being conducted in West Bengal after a gap of 23 years, with the last such revision held in 2002.
Since the announcement of the exercise, several people in the state have allegedly died by suicide over “fear of exclusion” from the updated voters’ list, according to police.
The TMC has accused the Election Commission of creating panic through the SIR process, claiming it has driven people to distress. The BJP, however, has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated.