Overview
- Hamimul Islam, 47, a primary school headmaster and booth level officer in Murshidabad, was found hanging at his school on Saturday, and police have opened an unnatural death inquiry after sending the body for post-mortem.
- His wife filed a police complaint alleging work pressure from the SIR exercise and naming local resident Bulet Khan over alleged threats and unpaid money, and police arrested the accused.
- Relatives say SIR duties had escalated in recent weeks, with Islam balancing teaching with mapping and unmapping tasks tied to the electoral roll revision.
- Protesters associated with a TMC-leaning group demonstrated in Murshidabad and submitted a deputation to the Chief Electoral Officer seeking a probe and protections for BLOs.
- Reports place the number of BLO deaths at eight since the SIR began on November 4, with five described as suicides, and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to the Chief Election Commissioner citing concerns, as separate accounts also describe elderly voters dying after SIR-related stress.