A TMC councillorfrom South Dum Dum Municipality was found hanging in his home in north Kolkata on Saturday, said police. Sanjay Das, 50, represented Ward Number 18 and was considered very influential in the South Dum Dum area.
According to police, family members grew suspicious when he did not come out of his room Saturday morning, and after breaking open the door of his room, he was found hanging.
Das was taken to a private hospital in Nagerbazar, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
Sources in the police said prima facie, it looked like a case of suicide, but added that no suicide note was recovered.
A case of unnatural death has been registered at the local Nagerbazar police station. “We are investigating the case, and all possible angles are being looked into,” said a police officer.
Das was considered to be close to another TMC councillor from the area, Debraj Chakraborty.
Debraj Chakraborty, who is married to former TMC MLA Aditi Munshi, is being investigated by Central agencies in connection with alleged irregularities in the recruitment process carried out by the civic body.
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On Friday, the couple had moved the Calcutta High Court seeking anticipatory bail in a disproportionate asset case filed by the Bidhannagar City Police.
Previously, Chakraborty had been questioned by the 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.
Former Food Supplies Minister Rathin Ghosh has also been questioned in the municipal recruitment scam case.
Meanwhile, TMC leaders attributed Das’ death to “pressure and threats” that he was allegedly receiving. “It is a sad incident. We hope that the police will thoroughly investigate the matter. We are hearing that he committed suicide. There were no allegations of extortion or corruption against him. But locals said that after the elections, he was getting extortion calls, and when he refused to give money, they threatened to blackmail him and ruin his image. We are hearing that he was under tremendous mental stress as he was getting threats,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, told mediapersons, “He (Das) was a very good person. He played sports, and he had no cases against him. This is an untimely death. We have heard that he was getting threats in the last few days. We demand a proper investigation into the matter.”
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Reacting to the councillor’s death, BJP MP Sukanta Majumdar said, “The police are investigating the matter. We have full faith in the police investigation.”
Tanusree Bose is a dedicated journalist reporting for The Indian Express from Kolkata. Her work focuses sharply on the complex administrative, political, and judicial developments across West Bengal, establishing her as an authoritative voice in regional news coverage.
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