Senior Journalist Biplab Dutta Found Dead At Home

Ranaghat, Aug. 9: Senior journalist Biplab Dutta, 52, a former staff reporter with the Bengali daily Sangbad Pratidin, was found dead at his home in Ranaghat Nasrapara during the early hours of Wednesday morning. Some local civic workers first noticed him lying unconscious in the courtyard of his home, where he stayed with his younger brother. They informed the neighbors, who called his relatives and doctor. A doctor later declared him dead. The exact reason and time of death could not be ascertained. But, family members claimed that most probably he suffered a cardiac arrest on the way to washroom late in the night. Neighbors claimed that Dutta was suffering from depression after he was terminated from his job by Sangbad Pratidin. Rifts with his siblings and estranged wife further aggravated the situation as it caused a serious impact on his health condition. “He was ill and literally there was no one to take care of him. Most unfortunately he was suffering due to starvation that made him very feeble”, a neighbor said.  His last rites were done at the Santipur burning ghat. Prior to joining Sangbad Pratidin, Dutta, a theatre worker, and a poet by passion, had worked with Daily Overland and Alpha Bangla TV.