Assam man fighting citizenship case dies by suicide
Morigaon (Assam), Feb 3: A 60-year-old man, who was fighting a case at a Foreigners Tribunal despite his name appearing in the National Register for Citizens (NRC), has allegedly died by suicide in Morigaon district, officials said on Wednesday.
The family of Manik Das of Borkhal village claimed he ended his life because of "frustration and mental torture" he faced while attending the proceedings at the Tribunal to prove his Indian citizenship.
Police said Das was missing since Sunday and his body was found hanging from a tree on a hillock near his house on Tuesday evening.
"The body has been sent for postmortem. Prima facie it's a case of suicide but we can say it with certainty only after the postmortem," an official said. According to official sources, Das was cremated on Wednesday after postmortem.
The family of the deceased alleged he was going through a bout of depression due to the case against him at the Foreigners' Tribunal-2 in Morigaon.
"The case has been going on for many years. We don't know why the police sent a notice to him and filed the case. My father's name appeared in the NRC. He was frustrated and faced mental torture due to the entire process," said the minor daughter of Das.
The deceased is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
The daughter also claimed that Das had all valid legal identity documents such as PAN card, Aadhaar card and land records in his name.
Morigaon Deputy Superintendent of Police (Border) D R Bora, however, said family issues could have driven Das to take the extreme step.
"It is totally wrong to link the alleged suicide with the FT case. The cause of suicide might be household issues," he told PTI.
The case against Das was registered at the Tribunal in 2004.
Bora claimed only a notice was served on Das and no case was registered against any member of his family in accordance with the guidelines of the Gauhati High Court.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Over 50% new faces elected to Majlis-e-Islah wa Tanzeem executive committee
Bhatkal: More than 50 per cent of the members elected to the executive committee of Majlis-e-Islah wa Tanzeem in its triennial elections are new faces, with a significant number of young members getting an opportunity in the organisation’s executive committee.
Polling for eight constituencies in different parts of Bhatkal was held on May 12, in which 24 members were elected. In addition, 20 members were elected unopposed from seven constituencies.
The keenest contest was witnessed in Constituency No. 14, where 10 candidates were in the fray for five seats.
With this, the process of electing members to the organisation’s 132-member executive council from Bhatkal and other regions has been completed.
Election Commissioner Mohiuddin Altaf Kharoori said the induction of a large number of new members into the executive committee has brought fresh enthusiasm to the organisation.
