A surprising incident occurred in Bagda village of West Bengal amid the unwarranted row over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. On 17th November, Jagabandhu Mondal, who had been missing for 28 years and was believed to be dead, unexpectedly returned home.
According to reports, he departed from home in 1997 and was considered dead by his family. They even conducted his last rites. His wife, Supriya had been living alone with their two children. However, a knock was heard at the door on the fateful day revealing her husband standing in front of her eyes as the entire family was overwhelmed with emotion.
Jagabandhu stated that he had stayed in Gujarat, Mumbai and subsequently in Chhattisgarh. The underlying issue was that his name had been removed from the Bagda voter list, necessitating original documents to maintain his name due to the SIR program. He returned because his name continued to remain on the Bankura voter list.
However, when his name was found next to a woman named Sulekha Mondal, in the Bankura list, rumors of a second marriage began to circulate. Jagabandhu refuted this claim. Currently, the BLO has indicated that verifying his identity after 28 years will pose significant challenges. Now, the voter list that prompted his return will now decide if his name can be recorded as “alive.”
