Merchants of Goldighi Mall express grief at the demise of a trader who otherwise tested negative

August 4: Ranjan Kumar Paul (54), a merchant at Silchar Goldighi Mall breathed his last on Saturday at around 8.05 PM. A few days earlier, Ranjan Kumar Paul, who is a resident of Bidhan Sarani in Rangirkhari area of Silchar tested COVID-19 positive along with his wife Arpita Paul and his son Roushik Paul. As his wife was asymptomatic, so she was admitted at SM Dev Civil Hospital, whereas the father and the son were given admission at Silchar Medical College & Hospital (SMCH).

The wife and son of Ranjan Kumar Paul soon tested negative and they were discharged. Even he too was detected negative during the 2nd test on 29 July. However, as he was suffering from some other diseases, so Ranjan Paul was taken out of the Covid ward and was admitted in general ward of SMCH. However, inspite of being coronavirus negative, he suddenly died on 1 August. Nothing much official was known about the cause of his sudden death.

The incident has cast a spell of sorrow among the other merchants of the Mall. On Tuesday, the members of Goldighi Mall Merchants Welfare Association expressed grief and offered tribute to their deceased co-merchant. They assembled in the Mall premises and offered floral tribute in front of the portrait of Ranjan Kumar Paul. A minute silence was also observed. The Association kept the Mall closed in memory of the deceased merchant. Further, they expressed solidarity with the family members of Ranjan Kumar Paul.

Present during the occasion were, President of the Association Ramanuj Gupta along with Swapan Kumar Paul, Subhajit Gupta, Amrit Paul, Sandip Paul, Gobinda Kangshabanik, Indranil Ghosh, Sutapa Roy, Jhumna Chakraborty, Anup Acharjee, Satya Gopal Saha, Manna Das among others.