Overview
- Ashok Das, an assistant teacher serving as a booth-level officer, was found hanging at his Mukundapur residence in Kolkata and was declared brought dead at a private hospital, police said.
- Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma visited Das’s home and said an investigation has been initiated to determine the circumstances of the death.
- In Murshidabad’s Samserganj, 60-year-old Putu Sheikh died of a heart attack, and his family linked his anxiety to SIR hearing notices, including one with an alleged name misspelling, according to police and relatives.
- West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on January 12 alleging 77 deaths, four suicide attempts and 17 hospitalisations tied to the SIR workload, figures not independently verified in the reports.
- The New Indian Express reported nine BLO deaths since the SIR began in November, and political parties exchanged accusations over the causes, while police inquiries into the latest cases continue.