Dawa Sherpa BDO Kaliaganj found dead in his bungalow

Dawa Sherpa, the block development officer (BDO) of Kaliaganj in North Dinajpur was found dead in his bungalow after police broke open the door this afternoon.

Dawa Sherpa, 45, had joined the post in April 2012 according to sources in the district administration.

He hails from Kakjhora in Darjeeling where his wife and two children stay.

Sherpa used to stay in the three-bedroom bungalow with a bank employee, Tapan Moitra, whom Sherpa had introduced to neighbours as a distant relative. It is unclear how Sherpa and Moitra, who was questioned by the police, met, said a police source.

His relatives and office staff said the officer had high blood pressure. Prabir Roy, a clerk of the block development office, said Sherpa had called a meeting at noon today but when he did not arrive for it, Roy went to his house to check.

When he called for Sherpa and he did not reply from his house, Roy called the police and Moitra.

Sherpa was found lying in bed with “no clothes on. He was lying on his back…. A doctor came and pronounced him dead,” Roy said.

Another office staff member said: “The BDO used to get exhausted in hot weather. During the general elections, he had to be hospitalised.”

Police sources said Moitra told the police that when Sherpa returned from the chief minister’s meeting yesterday in Gangarampur, he “immediately lay down”. Moitra reportedly told the police that he last saw Sherpa before he went to bed around 11pm. This morning Moitra left for his bank in Kaliaganj, without waking up Sherpa.

The police said no injury marks were found on Sherpa’s body but a probe is on.

District magistrate Smita Pandey said Sherpa had not been well and had written to her for a transfer.(TT)