Kannur, Nov 16: A school employee, who was working as a Booth Level Officer (BLO) as part of the upcoming local body elections, was found hanging in his house in this north Kerala district on Sunday, police said.
Local people and his family members alleged that Aneesh George (44) took the extreme step due to work pressure in connection with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.
George was working as a peon in a government school in Payyannur.
Police said he was found hanging in the hall of the first floor of his house in Payyannur. It is said that the man had been under pressure for some time in connection with the BLO duties, according to the FIR.
George’s aged father told reporters that his son had been extremely tensed for some days in connection with SIR related duties.
“I never expected that things would reach this level. No individual or society had any role in his death. As per his nature, he was not accustomed to doing any tough tasks like this. He took the extreme step out of this tension,” he said.
Early in the day, Shyam, a person close to George’s family, also raised similar charges. While talking to the media, he said that the deceased had complained about the heavy workload and job stress related to the completion of the SIR related works.
The shocking incident happened at a time when the major political parties, including the ruling CPI (M) and opposition Congress, have been voicing against the implementation of SIR in the state.
Chief Electoral Officer of Kerala, Rathan U Kelkar said a report was sought from Kannur district collector on the death.
BLO to boycott work today
The SIR exercise in Kerala is likely to be affected on Monday as booth-level officers will boycott work, a body of state government employees and two other organisations said.
The work boycott was announced by the Action Council of State Government Employees and Teachers, the Joint Committee of Teacher Service Organisations, and the Kerala NGO Association, following the suicide of an official in Kannur.
In a statement, the trade unions said BLOs across the state would abstain from work on Monday. (PTI)
