Voter tragedy in Bengal: 82-year-old man dies by suicide, son blames CEC and CEO in police complaint
Times of India | 31 December 2025
PURULIA/TAMLUK: The son of the 82-year-old Purulia voter who jumped before a moving train hours before his scheduled SIR hearing lodged a police complaint Tuesday blaming chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Bengal chief electoral officer Manoj Agarwal and other EC officials for abetting his suicide, even as a 75-year-old retired central govt employee in East Midnapore died, allegedly by suicide, on receiving a hearing notice.
Durjan Majhi's son Kanai alleged in his complaint at Para police station that his father's name was there on the physical 2002 Bengal SIR rolls but had gone missing from the 2002 SIR list uploaded on the EC's website, resulting in a hearing notice being sent to him.
EC had in a notification on Dec 27 said that 1.3 lakh such voters, whose names appear on the 2002 physical SIR roll but are not reflected on EC's online database due to a technical glitch, will not have to appear for a hearing.
In East Midnapore's Ramnagar, 75-year-old Bimal Shee, who was distraught after being sent a hearing notice, was found hanging in the attic of his houses Tuesday. His name did not appear in the 2002 SIR rolls as he was posted in Kolkata around the time.
"My father moved back to Ramnagar permanently after 2002 and had been voting regularly since then," said son Deepak. "All documents were at home but he was inconsolable. He spent the last four days frantically sifting through papers, terrified that something was wrong. We never imagined he would take such a step."