In yet another tragic incident of suicide over D voter notice, a 49-year-old bicycle mechanic allegedly committed suicide in Assam’s Udalguri district on Sunday.
Police sources said Dipak Debnath, who was reportedly depressed after a recent notice by a foreigner’s tribunal to prove his citizenship, committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree in the backyard of his residence.
A resident of Ulubari (Ghagra) village under Harisinga police station in Udalguri district, Debnath had been running from pillar to post to prove his citizenship and was under acute mental trauma after being served with D-voter notice even after his name being listed in final draft NRC as well as in 1971 electoral rolls.
The incident has triggered massive outrage in the area. A large number of people gathered at the residence of Debanath following the incident and raised slogans against the state and central government.
Adviser of the All BTC Bengali Youth Students Federation (AABYSF), Shyamal Sarkar alleged that the NRC update process and D-voter issue have been a nightmare for many genuine Indian citizens of state.
Sarkar alleged that the notice of D-voter issued by Foreigners Tribunal was delivered by the Border police after a period of 3-4 months so that an ex-parte judgement could be delivered declaring the person to be a foreigner.
He further alleged that the state government has hatched a political conspiracy against the Bengali Hindus even the pro-talk ULFA leaders are being roped in as a part of the strategy.
Sarkar threatened to launch massive protest against the government if the genuine Bengali Hindus and Muslims are arbitrarily subjected to undue harassment in the suspicion of being foreigners.
President of All Assam Bengali Youth Students Federation (AABYSF), Kamal Chowdhury terming the incident an unfortunate one, lamented the fact that the Bengali Hindus are allegedly subjected to harassment by the government machineries. He demanded a compensation of Rs. 10 lakhs or government job to the next kin of the victim.
Police officials in Udalguri have remained tight-lipped about the reason behind the suicide of Debnath. Udalguri SP Rajveer Singh said that as no suicide note was found police is looking into all the angles in the case.
“We are investigating into the matter and it is too early to arrive at a conclusion,” Singh told Northeast Now.
On October 21, 70-year-old Nirod Baran Das, a retired government teacher, committed suicide at Kharupteiya in Darrang district allegedly depressed after his name was excluded from the NRC.