Source: Deccan Chronicle
On Monday, a debt-ridden farmer in Sehore, home district of Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, allegedly committed suicide by consuming a poisonous substance.
District Collector, Sudam Khad, said that the reason behind the alleged suicide of Dulchand Keer, 55, is still not clear.
Police said a case was registered at the Rehti Police Station on Tuesday.
Rehti police station in charge Pankaj Geete said, “The cause behind the farmer’s death is a matter of investigation but he was having a debt of Rs. 6 lakh on him.”
Keer’s son, Sher Singh, claimed that his father committed suicide due to mounting debts. He added that he saw his father lying unconscious and rushed him to the government hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Singh said his father remained disturbed as he had borrowed Rs. 4 lakh from banks and Rs. 2 lakh from others.
The incident comes days after Mr Chouhan announced a slew of measures to end farmers’ woes in MP, which saw violent protests over loan waiver.
Last week, at least 6 protesting farmers were killed in an open firing after which Mandsaur has been in a state of unrest. Furious farmers raided and set aflame a police outpost after the firing. This is when the authority clamped curfew on Pipalia town, the nucleus of violence, rushed extra forces.
The farmers’ protest started last week in Mandsaur over demand for better prices for their produce and debt relief. Mandsaur, the epicentre of farmers’ protest, had been on the boil since last week.