Witness of cousin vital in ECI-ordered probe on man in Dhaka uprising featuring as voter in Bengal

Kolkata, June 11 The statement of a cousin is vital in the Election Commission of India (ECI)-ordered probe on man in the Bangladesh students' uprising featuring as a registered voter in West Bengal's Kakdwip Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district.

The ECI has directed the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to probe the case of the man, who was active in the uprising in Bangladesh last year, featuring as a registered voter in India.

Tapan Das, a cousin of Newton Das, the voter in question, has already told media persons that Newton had voter cards both in India and Bangladesh.

He has also told media persons that after completing his studies in West Bengal, Newton shifted to Bangladesh and was there for a long time, till he came back to Kakdwip recently.

“As far as we know, he is a voter in Bangladesh. I have no idea how he arranged an Indian EPIC card,” claimed Tapan Das, who is also a registered voter in the Kakdwip Assembly constituency.

An insider from the office of the West Bengal CEO said that the Booth Level Officer (BLO) concerned will meet Tapan Das on Wednesday and get details about Newton Das.

“Details will be sought from Tapan Das on when Newton left for Bangladesh after the completion of his studies and when he returned to Kakdwip. The cousin will be asked whether he had any knowledge of who helped Newton in getting the EPIC card. Based on his statements, further investigation in the matter will be carried on,” the CEO office insider said.

He also said that when a cousin of Newton is claiming him to be a voter of Bangladesh, reasonable doubts over the matter are bound to surface.

The controversy surfaced after some whistle-blowers highlighted the picture of Newton Das, a registered voter with Kakdwip Assembly constituency, featuring in the students’ movement in Bangladesh last year on social media.

The whistle-blowers also claimed that Das had dual citizenship of India and Bangladesh.

Newton, however, has denied the allegations of holding Bangladeshi citizenship, though he did not deny having gone to the country and participating in the students’ movement there.

According to him, he had been a voter of the Kakdwip Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district since 2014 and had also voted in the Lok Sabha elections that year.

He stated that he went to Bangladesh in 2024 in order to address some issues relating to his ancestral property there, and during that period, he got involved with the students’ movement there.

He also stated that in 2017 he lost the EPIC card, which was issued to him in 2014, and in 2018 he was issued a fresh card.

He also admitted that the Trinamool Congress MLA from Kakdwip, Manturam Pakhira, helped him in getting the new EPIC card.

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