Kolkata, Dec 25 (IANS) A Booth Level Officer (BLO) has gone missing in West Bengal’s East Midnapore district before the start of the hearing process of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, said the police on Thursday.
According to his family members, he has been untraceable for the past two days. The BLO’s identity card is at his home, along with various enumeration forms and related documents. The disappearance of the BLO before the public hearing of the SIR process has caused a stir in the area.
The district administration has also launched efforts to find the missing BLO.
The police said that the name of the BLO is Amit Kumar Mondal, a resident of Bikihat area under Khajurdihi Panchayat in Katwa I block of East Burdwan district, and a teacher by profession. He teaches at Uddharanpur Primary School in Ketugram. He is in charge of Booth No. 23 of the Katwa Assembly constituency as a BLO.
According to his family, on Tuesday, around 10 a.m., the BLO returned home from the market, parked his motorbike and went out again. He told his family that he had a BLO meeting. After the afternoon passed, the BLO did not return home.
When the family members started a search for him, they found his mobile phone, BLO identity card and SIR-related documents lying at home. The family searched for him in various places, including the homes of relatives, but could not trace him. That same night, the family filed a missing person report at the Katwa police station. It has been over two days, and there is still no trace of him.
The mystery surrounding Amit Kumar Mondal’s disappearance is deepening. The family is also clueless about the reason for his disappearance. The family claimed that he had been under some pressure since taking the responsibility of working as a BLO
It is learnt that there are 641 voters in Amit Kumar Mondal’s Booth No. 23. He had distributed notices to 33 voters for the hearing. The hearing is scheduled to begin in two days, where his presence as the BLO is mandatory.
However, his disappearance before that has put the administration in a challenging position. Katwa Sub-Divisional Officer Anirban Basu did not give any official statement to the media on this matter.
Sources said that if he is not found in due time, then a replacement will be made to complete his unfinished work.
A senior officer of East Burdwan district police said, “Based on the missing person diary lodged by the family, a search has started to trace the BLO. So far, he has not been found.”
–IANS
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