An elderly man in East Burdwan died of a heart attack apparently after spending weeks in fear over the National Register of Citizens, the sixth death in the district attributed to such panic over the past 11 days.

Nijam Uddin Sekh, 69, a goatherd from East Burdwan’s Purbasthali, suffered the heart attack on Tuesday night after failing to trace land documents that are suspected to have been washed away because of the Bhagirathi’s erosion.

Sekh was earlier a resident of Akandapur village in Nadia’s Nakashipara. Many years ago, he moved to his in-laws’ home in East Burdwan’s Kalinagar Bagan village, 30km from Kalna, the sub-divisional town.

Family members said Sekh had visited Nakashipara on Monday for the last time and met those who bought his land 30 years ago, but returned empty-handed as the buyers said the documents had been washed away by the river.

“After returning from Akandapur, he said that he had no other means to prove his citizenship…. He panicked and repeatedly told us that he would be rendered nation-less by the NRC and would not be included either under the amended citizenship law because he is a Muslim,” said Taijun Saikh, a nephew of the deceased.

Kalinagar Bagan is a minority-dominated village with around 4,000 residents. Villagers said that like Sekh, many others in the area were in the grip of fear over the NRC and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

“He fell ill and died from a heart attack …. Most of us here don’t know what to do if a nationwide NRC drive is conducted,” said Abdur Rahim Sekh, a villager.

Nijam Uddin Sekh is survived by his wife, son and a daughter, who is married and lives in a nearby village.

Besides the problem with the land documents, Sekh was also worried about incorrect spellings of his name in the Aadhaar card and voter ID.

“Different documents had different spellings, which had him further worried,” said a relative.

Suman Sourav Mohanty, the sub-divisional officer of Kalna, said he was aware of the death, but was yet to confirm the cause.