4 deaths in 3 days, fear of losing citizenship grips people across Bengal

Kolkata, Sep 23: In three days four people have become the victim of the panic that is allegedly gripping Basirhat, adjacent to the Indo-Bangla border in North 24 Parganas in West Bengal, over National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise.

On Sunday morning, 35-year-old brick-kiln worker Kamal Hossain Mondal, resident of Soladana village, was found hanging in a mango orchard. According to her family member, Mondal was illiterate and panicked after he failed to find his land documents.

Mondal's wife Tuktuki Biwi said, "He had sought help from some people, who told him not to worry. But he remained extremely anxious and ended his life over NRC fears."

In another incident, Mantu Mondal a 36-year-old trader died on Saturday after he suffered a heart attack at Basirhat's Kripalpur, near Matia. His family also claimed he died because of panic over NRC, he suffered the heart attack while searching for land documents.

On the same day 55-year-old Alia Bewa, resident of Bankra village in Basirhat, died after falling ill while standing in a queue at the BDO office at Hingalganj to get her digital ration card.

In Sashan's Daspur, Ayep Amin, 53, a farmer, fell ill after failing to get his land records, his family said. This led to a heart attack on Saturday night and on Sunday morning, Amin died at the Barasat State General Hospital, his family said.

Earlier, Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh has claimed that the Mamata-led TMC government in the state is protecting more than one crore Rohingyas and Bangladeshi Muslims. Addressing a press meet, he iterated that the BJP will implement NRC in Bengal and throw out infiltrators.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier said that her government would never allow the exercise of NRC in the state.