Office closed, agent kills self

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Behrampore, May 2: An agent of a deposit-mobilising company in Burdwan allegedly hounded by investors today committed suicide after she found the firm's office and the manager's house locked. Later this evening, an official of ATM, for which Pratima Das worked as a collection agent, said the office was closed for May Day. According to Pratima's husband Uttam, she had over the past one-and-a-half years collected more than Rs 1 lakh from investors, who had been frequenting her Murshidabad home to demand their money back in the aftermath of the default crisis precipitated by Saradha. The Bidhannagar commissionerate had on Tuesday put the number of suicides in south Bengal apparently sparked by the default crisis at five. A Special Investigation Team has asked district superintendents of police to initiate against Saradha boss Sudipta Sen cases of abetting the suicides of the depositors. Uttam said a dozen investors had come to Pratima yesterday demanding their money back. "My wife assured them that she would go to the ATM office in Katwa and talk to the manager. But when she found the office locked, she returned home depressed and drank pesticide. I was not at home then." Pratima, who lived in Salar, used to commute to her Katwa office either by train or bus, Uttam said. The couple's 14-year-old daughter today alerted neighbours on hearing her mother groan. Pratima, police said, was found frothing from the mouth. Neighbours took Pratima to a local hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival. Asked why the office was closed, an ATM executive said: "We kept the office closed yesterday because of May Day. But it was open today. The manager submitted his resignation three days ago. The company has not yet received any complaint from depositors." The official did not clarify why an agent was not aware of the holiday. Burdwan superintendent of police S.M.H. Meerza said: "We have heard about the suicide in Murshidabad. But we are yet to receive a specific complaint against the company." Suicide bid In West Midnapore's Chandrakona, a farmer who had invested Rs 40,000 in Saradha attempted suicide today. Arun Das, who had in 2011 sold off his two cottahs for investing in Saradha, has been kept under observation at a local hospital. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130503/jsp/bengal/story_16853283.jsp#.UYPMZKKBlA0