A 63-year-old man was found dead by suicide in his home in Kolkata on Sunday morning, with family members alleging that fear over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) led him to take the drastic step. The deceased, identified as Dilip Kumar Saha, had been residing in Anandapally West in the Regent Park area. According to police officials, Saha originally came to Kolkata in 1972 from Nawabganj in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He had been living in the city for over five decades and worked as a non-teaching staff member at a private school in Dhakuria, in south Kolkata.

On Sunday morning, his wife, Arati Saha, repeatedly called out to him but received no response from behind the locked door of his room. Concerned, she reached out to a niece-in-law who lived nearby. The two then forced open the door and discovered Saha hanging from the ceiling fan.

Police said that the initial investigation points to fear and stress related to the possible implementation of the NRC as a contributing factor in his death. A suicide note has been recovered from the room, and the matter is under investigation.

Saha’s wife told the media that her husband had been deeply anxious about being declared a foreigner and deported to Bangladesh, a country where he no longer had any relatives or connections. “He had been under immense stress for days. He kept saying he would be sent to a detention camp. But he had valid documents like a voter ID card,” she said.

Local Trinamool Congress MLA and West Bengal Power Minister Arup Biswas visited the grieving family and expressed concern over the impact of NRC-related fears. "This is the outcome of the panic caused by the Centre’s policies. What they are doing in the name of NRC is inhumane," he said.