West Bengal BLO Found Dead In Murshidabad School; Family Alleges SIR Work Pressure

A booth level officer (BLO) and primary school teacher was found hanging inside a school in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district on Saturday night, with his family alleging that mounting pressure from Special Intensive Revision (SIR) work led him to take his own life, police said, according to PTI.

Hamimul Islam (47) was found dead inside Paikmari Char Krishnapur Boys Primary School in the Paikmari Char area under Ranitala police station limits. His death came just three days after another BLO died in the state under similar circumstances, taking the total number of booth level officers who have died since the rollout of the SIR process on November 4 to eight.

Islam was a teacher at the primary school and was also serving as a BLO for a booth in Purba Alaipur village under Kharibona gram panchayat, an officer of Ranitala police station said, as reported by PTI.

The incident came to light late on Saturday night after locals noticed something amiss at the school premises, the officer said. According to the police, Islam had left home on Saturday morning to attend school but failed to return in the afternoon.

"After an extended search, his body was found hanging from a room inside the school premises on Saturday night. Our officers recovered the body and sent it for post-mortem examination. An investigation is underway," the officer said.

Family members told police that Islam had been under severe mental stress due to the workload arising from his dual responsibilities as a teacher and a BLO. They alleged that the pressure to complete SIR-related tasks had intensified in recent weeks, according to PTI.

Islam’s elder brother, Farman-ul-Kalam, alleged that the pressure to complete SIR duties was beyond his brother’s capacity to handle.

Bhagabangola Trinamool Congress MLA Riyaz Hossain Sarkar visited the bereaved family and alleged that the Election Commission was rushing the SIR process, leading to excessive workload on BLOs. He claimed that Islam had been assigned extensive tasks, including mapping and unmapping work.

The police officer said that all aspects of the case are being examined.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday again wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, expressing concern over the deaths of common citizens and BLOs in connection with the ongoing electoral roll revision, PTI reported.

(With inputs from PTI)