Debt-ridden farmer allegedly kills self in Maharashtra's Vidarbha

MUMBAI: A debt-ridden farmer allegedly committed suicide in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region today by consuming a poisonous chemical, apparently due to crop-loss, police said.

Shankar Chayare (50), the farmer, belonged to Yavatmal district of Vidarbha, from where a number of farmer suicides had been reported in the past.

Chayare allegedly consumed a poisonous chemical and died while he was being taken to Yavatmal city for treatment, the police said.

The loss of cotton crop due to a pest attack is suspected to be the prime reason behind the farmer taking the extreme step, the police said.

A police official said a purported suicide note was also recovered.

"The police have seized a purported suicide note. It mentions the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and holds him responsible (for the suicide), but we are yet to verify its authenticity and the actual cause of the death," Yavatmal Superintendent of Police (SP) Raj Kumar told PTI.

He said the post-mortem report was awaited, following which the authenticity of the purported suicide note would be verified.

"Chayare had taken a loan of Rs 90,000 from a local credit cooperative society and borrowed Rs 3 lakh from a private money lender. He was a resident of Rajurwadi village under the Ghatanji police station limits in Yavatmal district," the SP said.

In Yavatmal district, the suicide of a distressed farmer was, for the first time, officially registered on March 19, 1986.

Several farmer leaders in Maharashtra had observed a token fast on March 19 this year to draw the government's attention to the problem of agricultural distress.