Overview
- Sanjay Das, a South Dum Dum municipal councillor and chairman‑in‑council for health and sports, was found hanging in his Nagerbazar residence on Saturday and taken to a hospital where he was declared dead; police have registered an unnatural‑death case and sent the body for post‑mortem.
- Police say the death appears to be suicide on a prima facie basis but investigators are examining all angles and no suicide note has been recovered so far.
- Das was a close associate of Bidhannagar councillor Debraj Chakraborty and former MLA Aditi Munshi, who this week won interim protection from arrest until June 19 in a disproportionate‑assets matter.
- Central agencies and local police have stepped up probes into alleged municipal recruitment irregularities and extortion in the area, with the ED arresting former minister Sujit Bose on May 11 and several councillors detained in recent days.
- Local residents and party figures say posters and extortion threats had targeted Das in recent weeks, and the death has intensified political claims of selective targeting while prompting calls for a full, transparent investigation.