Family members of the victim, Sushen Santra, a resident of Joymollah village, claimed that he was upset after he heard that the Tata project might be relocated. His three sons — Uttam, Subhash and Bibhas — work in the ancillary units located within the project area as daily wage earners, and according to them, he was afraid they would lose their jobs.

The police have registered a case of unnatural death and said the cause of the suicide is not known. Santra reportedly had some country liquor before consuming pesticide.

As news of the suicide spread, the CPI(M) tried to cash in, perhaps bearing in mind how Mamata Banerjee supporters earlier projected suicides in Singur as the outcome of forcible land acquitisition.

Santra's son Bibhash said: “My father came to know from a news channel last night that the Tata factory would be shifted out of Singur. My father had given one bigha land for the project voluntarily and received a cheque of Rs 3.5 lakh. Since we have already spent the compensation money to renovate our old house, we have run out of money. Matters worsened after our contractors stopped payment following suspension of work at the project site recently.”