Former Nandigram MLA of the CPI, Ilyas Mohammed, whose political career ended 14 years ago with a “politically motivated sting operation”, died on Monday at a hospital here. He was 64.

The two-time CPI MLA, ailing for a while, lived an upright life marked by penury, said people who knew him.

He lived in his dilapidated house far from the political sphere ever since he resigned from the Assembly in 2008 following the sting operation that allegedly showed him accepting Rs 10,000 “as a bribe” from the representative of an NGO.

An Assembly inquiry panel cleared him of bribery charges and the CPI withdrew its suspension. But the turmoil was too much for Ilyas. He quit politics.

Ilyas, who won in 2001 and 2006, as the last Left MLA to represent Nandigram ahead of the anti-land acquisition that changed the contours of Bengal politics.

The bypoll was won by Trinamul’s Firoza Bibi in 2009.

Villagers, friends and comrades of Ilyas vouched for his honesty and said he was framed for political gains at the height of the Nandigram anti-land acquisition movement.

“Ilyas’s lifestyle gave credence to his honesty. Shankudeb Panda (the journalist who carried out the sting operation) joined Trinamul and then the BJP before last year’s Assembly polls. Panda was also seen on tape allegedly speaking to some agents seeking a stake in their businesses,” said a CPI leader in Nandigram.

Many Trinamul leaders, at least now, also don’t believe Panda’s sting operation.

Abu Taher, Trinamul leader and deputy chief of Nandigram-1 panchayat samiti, had been a part of Trinamul’s district leadership when they rose to power in the state in 2011.

Speaking about Ilyas, Taher said: “Apart from being a respected leader, Ilyas was a very simple man in private life too. It is impossible that he took a bribe from anyone, irrespective of whatever the official version made things out to be.”

Admitting that the sting did help them politically during the days of the land agitation in Nandigram, Taher added: “Illyas’s resignation was advantageous to us in 2011. Still, there is no doubt that he died an honest man.”

Ilyas's wife and sons live in the unpainted, one-storey home last renovated in 2001.

“We have not had any money to refurbish the house in over 20 years. Does this look like the home of someone who harboured ill-gotten wealth?” asked elder son Saddam, 28, who contested the Assembly elections of 2021 as an Independent, pointing at the brick structure with makeshift curtains and rusting grilles.

Ilyas’s younger son, Salim, 21, is unemployed.

“We have no other land or property. My father was simply the victim of a political conspiracy,” said Saddam.

He said he fought the last Assembly elections as an Independent after the CPI left the Nandigram seat to the CPM. The CPM had fielded young leader Minakshi Mukherjee.

“I wanted to fight the polls on a CPI ticket to avenge the injustice done to my father. After the seat went to the CPM, I decided to take the plunge and fight as an Independent, driven by the same motive,” Saddam said.

Nandigram had been the most watched seat of the Assembly polls where Mamata Banerjee and her former aide turned archrival Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP were pitted against each other. Suvendu won by a narrow margin.

Residents of the area attest to Ilyas’s simple living.

“When you see Ilyas’s dilapidated house and contrast it to the palatial buildings of several ruling party leaders in the region, you can understand the values that differentiated the two sets of leaders,” remarked a Nandigram villager.

The fact that Ilyas did not have to flee his home even during the tumultuous days in Nandigram and after Trinamul rode to power in 2011 showed the close bond the upright leader had with the people.

“It is a sad day for us. The man lived in penury despite being a two-time MLA. Political machinations dragged him into a controversy. He was sinned against but proved with his life that he was beyond blemish,” said a villager. “People will remember him.”