Hours after a Booth Level Officer (BLO) in Kasaragod died by suicide, the District Collector, Arjun Pandian, on Saturday said that preliminary findings showed no indication that work pressure from SIR duties led him to take the extreme step.

The deceased, Muhammed Savad (31) of Bayal House, was a teacher at the Government Higher Secondary School, Cherkala. According to police, between 7 am and 9.30 am, Savad parked his two-wheeler on the Mogral bridge and jumped into the river. Residents spotted him in the water, pulled him out, and took him to Kasaragod General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The Kasaragod District Collector, who also serves as the District Election Officer, expressed his sorrow over Savad's death. The Collector said that Savad, who had been working as a BLO since 2021, had performed very well. He added that out of the 12D forms he was assigned to distribute, only four remained.

Following Savad's death, his relatives and neighbours gathered at the hospital and staged a protest, alleging that work pressure related to his duties as a BLO had pushed him to take the extreme step. They demanded that the District Collector arrive for talks and sought a comprehensive inquiry into the circumstances leading to his death.

However, the Collector said that preliminary findings indicate no suspicious circumstances at the scene. He also added that a suicide note recovered from Savad's room did not mention anything related to job stress. “The note mentions only personal issues,” the Station House Officer said.

"Administrative verification has reaffirmed that the BLO had been performing his duties effectively and that all communication procedures were properly followed," the Collector said in a press release.

He clarified that based on the information available from police and administrative inquiries, no link has been established between electoral roll revision and the BLO's death. "The cause of the suicide remains unclear pending further investigation," he added.

The Collector said that police have registered a case of unnatural death under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and have begun a probe. He affirmed that the district administration would ensure that the police inquiry is conducted in a transparent manner.

He expressed condolences to Savad's family and extended his support during the period of grief. He also added that all eligible compensation and benefits would be processed on priority and disbursed expeditiously.