January 24, 2026 Times of Dakshin Dinajpur
Tensions Peak Over SIR Verification Discrepancies
Kamal Kumar Biswas Senior Correspondent
A voter verification hearing camp in West Bengal’s Dakshin Dinajpur district descended into chaos on Saturday afternoon after hundreds of attendees protested the rejection of their documents, leading to the assault of two government officials and the deployment of police .
The incident occurred at the Kumarganj Block office complex, where a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) hearing was underway for voters from booths 122, 123 and 125 of the Jakirpur panchayat area. The hearings were being conducted at the adjacent Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) office.
According to locals and witnesses, tensions flared when “No Matching” was reportedly written on the documents of more than 200 voters during the verification process. Many attendees alleged that their papers were dismissed despite being valid, triggering anger that quickly spilled over into violence.
A mob allegedly attacked Micro Observer Dibyendu Garai and another official, Dilip Lakra, inside the hearing room. It is learnt that Mr. Dibyendu Garai, who was serving as a micro observer for the SIR exercise, is a Development Officer with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and Mr. Lakra is an employee of the state Agriculture Department.
Sources said a large contingent of state police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel was rushed to the scene to restore law and order. Sources indicated that the Block Development Officer (BDO)Sribash Biswas and IC Kumarganj PS Ramprasad Chakladar personally intervened to rescue the injured officials and brought them into BDO office for safety. Mr. Garai is currently under the protection of the block administration.
As of Saturday evening, nearly 400 protesters continued to demonstrate outside the BDO office, demanding an explanation for the alleged mass rejection of documents. Attempts to reach the BDO or the injured officials for comment were unsuccessful.
The district secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rajat Ghosh, accused the administration of attempting to suppress details of the incident. “This is a serious failure of governance. Instead of transparency, there is an effort to downplay the violence and the grievances of voters,” he said.
Several attendees, who requested anonymity, maintained that the “No Matching” remarks were made deliberately despite the presentation of proper documentation. “We came with all valid papers, yet they were rejected without explanation,” one protester said.
The standoff continued for hours, underscoring growing tensions around the SIR verification process in the region and raising questions about administrative preparedness and public trust in electoral procedures.
Senior Trinamool Congress leader Subhash Chaki said regarding this matter, ''No one from the Trinamool Congress is involved in this incident.''
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