NRC fear leads to elderly man’s demise under Boko legislative constituency

A Correspondent

Boko: An elderly person was found dead near his residence at Sontoli village under Boko legislative constituency in Kamrup district on Sunday morning. The person has been identified as Ashraf Ali (84) who was missing since Saturday evening. Jogendra Barman, officer in-charge of Boko police station, said, “Police personnel of Sontoli Police outpost rushed to the place and recovered Ali’s body and police have started an investigation into the matter. A case has been registered regarding unnatural death (U/D). We suspect he might have died naturally, owing to old-age related ailments. The body has been sent for post-mortem to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital.”

However, Ashraf Ali’s family members, neighbours and villagers suspect that he had committed suicide by taking poison. According to his family members, Ali was called for NRC hiring two days ago in Nalbari district, ahead of the publication of the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) on July 31, 2019. After he returned home, he was depressed and even stopped eating his meals.

Family members came to know that he was terribly frightened about the exclusion of his name in the NRC. He was scared that he might be transferred to the detention camp and was missing since Saturday. On Sunday morning, villagers saw his body near Sontoli Selesuti Lower Primary School, which is some 300 meters away from his home.

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