The body of the 35-year-old farmer, who allegedly committed suicide by jumping into a channel of the Hemavathi River at Somalapura in Gubbi taluk of Tumakuru district, was retrieved by the personnel of the Fire and Emergency Services on Friday.
The body of Cheluvaraju (35), who jumped into the channel demanding water be released to the tank in Somalapura, was retrieved around 6.45 a.m. on Friday. A team of Fire and Emergency Services personnel along with the villagers were trying to retrieve the body of Cheluvaraju since Thursday.
Cheluvaraju’s last rites were conducted on his brother’s farm later in the day. Police personnel were deployed in large numbers at Somalapura to prevent any untoward incident.
Kodihalli Chandrashekar, state president of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sanga, told The Hindu that he would meet Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and urge him to consider the farmer's case and provide ₹10 lakh compensation to his family, besides a job for Cheluvaraju’s wife and ensuring his daughter gets free education.
Deputy Commissioner K.P. Mohan Raj, who consoled the farmer’s bereaved family, said he would write to the government recommending ₹5 lakh be paid to the family from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
On Thursday, Somalapura villagers were diverting water from the leak in the channel into the tank. Authorities concerned, on learning about the leak, visited the spot, repaired the leak in the channel and closed the Somalapura tank’s sluice. However, the villagers demanded that water be released into the tank and objected to closing of the sluice. Cheluvaraju allegedly jumped into the channel demanding water be released to the tank around 11 a.m. Tension prevailed at Somalapura as more than 250 farmers staged a snap protest and blocked Sira-Mysuru state highway by burning tyres. They demanded compensation to the farmer's family and water to the Somalapura tank.