Cooch Behar, 1 August (H.S.) -Tensions have resurfaced in parts of Cooch Behar district after multiple residents received notices related to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) from the Assam government. The latest to come forward is Dipankar Sarkar, a resident of Dakshin Rampur village under Rampur 2 Gram Panchayat in Tufanganj. Sarkar, who had gone to Assam for work around two to three years ago and later returned to his native village to take up farming, reported receiving an NRC-related notice a few days ago.

Fearing possible consequences, he initially refrained from informing anyone. However, on Thursday, Sarkar alerted the local administration. Trinamool Congress (TMC) district president Abhijit De Bhowmik is scheduled to visit his home on Friday, signaling growing political attention to the issue.

Sarkar's case is not isolated. Similar notices have recently been received by other residents of Cooch Behar. Among them is Momina Bibi from Bashraja village under Shalbari 1 Gram Panchayat. Having married in Assam’s Dhubri district nearly four decades ago, she later divorced and returned to Cooch Behar, where she remarried. She too expressed alarm upon receiving the NRC notice.

Another resident, Uttamkumar Brajabasi of Dinhata, has also been served with a similar notice, further indicating a pattern of NRC-related concerns extending beyond Assam’s borders.

These incidents have reignited local anxieties over the scope and implementation of the NRC process, particularly for individuals with past residential or familial ties to Assam.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh