TMC councillor Sanjay Das found hanging at home in Kolkata, police suspect suicide

A 50-year-old Trinamool Congress (TMC) councillor of the South Dum Dum Municipality on the northern outskirts of Kolkata was found hanging in his room on Saturday, police said.

According to news agency PTI, Sanjay Das, the chairman-in-council of the civic body, was taken to a local private hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.

A case of suicide?

Police were quoted by PTI as saying that, prima facie, it looked like a case of death by suicide, although no note confirming the nature of the incident could be recovered so far.

Police registered a case of unnatural death at the local Nagerbazar police station.

Police said Das' body would be handed over to his family following the mandatory autopsy procedure.

The incident left Das' followers and friends in a state of shock, many of whom were seen waiting outside the hospital premises after the body was brought there, the report added.

Das lived in the Nagerbazar area of north Kolkata. He represented ward number 18 of the municipality.

Sources close to Das told PTI he had been depressed for the past few days, but failed to pinpoint the reason behind the mental state of the deceased.

Responding to the incident, BJP minister Agnimitra Paul alleged, “I have heard that the deceased was close to Debraj Chakraborty [Bidhannagar TMC councillor] and headed the syndicates he ran.”

"We don't wish for anybody's death. We have said that those in the TMC fold, who are apprehensive of public backlash, will be sent home with police protection. But we can't forgive those who played an active part in post-poll violence and tortured people during the erstwhile TMC rule in the state," he said.

Link to Bidhannagar TMC councillor

Das was widely believed to have remained a close aide of Debraj Chakraborty — Bidhannagar TMC councillor and husband of former party MLA Aditi Munshi.

On Friday, the couple had moved the Calcutta High Court seeking anticipatory bail in a disproportionate asset case filed by the Bidhannagar City Police, PTI reported.

Previously, Chakraborty had been questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the alleged recruitment scam at the primary level in state-run schools.

Several TMC councillors, believed to be close associates of Chakraborty, have been arrested over the past few days in cases involving extortion, assault and intimidation.

Former TMC minister Sujit Bose was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on May 11 in connection with an alleged recruitment scam at the South Dum Dum Municipality and was slapped with a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case.

The former chairperson of the TMC-run civic body, Panchu Roy, has also been questioned by the ED in connection with the alleged irregularities in recruitment.

(With inputs from agencies)