Bengal businessman commits suicide, blames it on GST

According to reports, the middle-aged trader was found sick, lying on the floor of its stationary shop, at Narayanpur Bus Stand area under Rampurhat Police Station limits in Birbhum on Monday afternoon.

The man was rushed to a local health centre where he was pronounced dead.

"A 43-year-old trader, Pinaki Dutta, was found dead inside his own stationary shop and after preliminary enquiry, we are suspecting that he committed suicide after consuming something toxic," a local police official told IBNS.

"We also recovered a suicide note from his shirt's pocket where he blamed GST for his death," the official said.

According to police reports, the businessman wrote only three sentences in his suicide note in Bengali- "None is responsible for my death. Only GST is responsible. What's the benefit from my survival if I can't continue my business!"

An official of Birbhum district police said that deceased's family members claimed that the trader became upset after his small business was hit due to the implementation of GST.

"Pinaki Dutta's wife Suparna Dutta, who found her husband in a very critical condition inside his shop, told us that the trader went into deep depression as he could not continue his business properly after the GST came into force," the officer told IBNS.

Local police, however, started investigation into the matter while the trader's body has been sent for postmortem, reports said.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)