Bhubaneswar: After Bargarh, another farmer committed suicide allegedly over crop loss and debt burden in Nabarangpur.
The deceased has been identified as Siba Bhadra of Sanamisi village. According to sources, Bhadra had consumed pesticide on March 3 and died while undergoing treatment at Nabarangpur hospital today.
Sanadi Bhadra, wife of deceased claimed that her husband was in mental duress following crop loss and debt burden.
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Odisha Pradesh Congress (OPCC) Vice- President, Pradip Majhi on the other hand has demanded that the state government should announce a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the family of the deceased.
In a similar case earlier, death of another farmer Hadu Bagarti of Bargarh district had sparked off a political row following statements by Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy that the farmer had died due to a family dispute.
However, Maharathy had subsequently asked the district Collector to conduct a fresh probe into the incident on Monday.
Irate over the false report submitted by the district administration over Bagarti’s death, the local villagers today had also detained horticulture director and deputy director of agriculture department.
The villagers alleged that Bagarti committed suicide after the crops failed due to lack of proper water supply to his agricultural fields following low voltage.
“The farmers of the region are dissatisfied over the false report submitted on the farmer’s death for which the villagers had detained the officials,” said Ramesh Mohapatra, a villager.
“We had visited the deceased farmer’s agricultural field, heard the grievances of the locals and we would be submitting our report accordingly,” said deputy director, agriculture, Naba Kishore Das.