Kolkata, Nov 28 (IANS) A Booth Level Officer (BLO) died of cardiac arrest, allegedly due to the workload of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.

The BLO died on Thursday night and was identified as Zakir Hossain, a teacher in a local state-run primary school.

His family members claimed that he was under “tremendous pressure” from the SIR exercise and the teaching assignment.

The pressure on him intensified as the authorities of the state-run primary school, where he was attached, refused to relieve him, adding to his woes.

According to the family members, Hossian complained of acute cardiac pain on Thursday afternoon, following which he was rushed to a local hospital immediately. However, all efforts of the doctors to bring him out of the crisis failed ultimately, and he expired on Thursday night.

This is the fourth BLO death, reportedly due to SIR-related work pressure, that has been reported from West Bengal since the revision exercise started on November 4.

Earlier, a BLO died of a heart attack at Bardhaman in East Burdwan district of West Bengal, allegedly due to the SIR-related workload.

Two other BLOs, one at Chapra in Nadia district and the other at Malbazar in Jalpaiguri district, allegedly committed suicide, reportedly because of the SIT-related workload pressure.

Political controversies have been surfacing over the deaths and suicides of BLOs in West Bengal.

The Trinamool Congress leadership, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has accused the ECI of allegedly imposing an undue workload on the BLOs, as the revision exercise was thrust upon them in an unplanned manner.

On the other hand, the BJP had claimed that the pressure on the BLOs was not due to SIR-related workload, but to “undue pressure” from the ruling Trinamool Congress and the state administration to conduct the revision exercise according to the latter’s whims.

–IANS

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