Mamata Banerjee's niece, a sacked school staffer, found dead in Birbhum
A 31-year-old woman, the niece of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was found dead at her residence in Birbhum district on Tuesday (September 1, 2026). Police said the woman was the daughter of one of Ms. Banerjee's maternal cousins, who is also a local Trinamool Congress leader in Kusumba village under Rampurhat Police Station.
According to police, the body was discovered by family members on the second floor of the house around noon. No suicide note has been found so far. The woman had lost her job as a non-teaching staffer at Bolpur Government High School in March 2023, when the Calcutta High Court cancelled the appointments of 842 candidates from the 2016 West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) panel over alleged irregularities.
Santanu Adhikary, inspector of Rampurhat Police Station, said family members have stated that the woman had been suffering from severe depression for the past few years and was undergoing psychiatric treatment. "She got married in 2012. The victim was probably under stress owing to the ongoing divorce case," Mr. Adhikary said. An unnatural death report has been lodged and the body has been sent for autopsy.
The woman's termination was part of a broader action by the Calcutta High Court, which on March 10, 2023 directed the SSC to cancel the appointments of all Group C staff who had secured jobs through unfair means, including manipulation of OMR sheets. The list of 842 included individuals with connections to the then-ruling Trinamool Congress as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party.
She had ranked 608 in the 2016 State Level Selection Test (SLST) conducted by the SSC. Later, on April 22, 2024, the Calcutta High Court scrapped the entire 2016 SSC panel, citing large-scale irregularities and favouritism in exchange for money. Nearly 26,000 people lost their jobs as a result. The matter reached the Supreme Court, which upheld the High Court's verdict on April 3, 2025.
The incident has drawn attention to the personal toll of the recruitment scam on individuals who were removed from their positions. However, police have not confirmed any direct link between the job loss and the woman's death. "Her family members and relatives are being questioned," Mr. Adhikary said, adding that the investigation is ongoing.
