Farmer from Punjab dies of electrocution near protest site at Singhu border

CHANDIGARH: A farmer from Punjab died of electrocution on Sunday near the Singhu border of the national capital where protests against the contentious agriculture laws have been going on for over seven months now, police said.

The body of Sohan Singh, 42, was found near an electric transformer close to Singhu border in Kundli area of Haryana's Sonipat district.

"He died of electrocution. We have sent the body for post-mortem," an official of the Kundli police station said.

Singh had come to the protest site to join the stir last month.

Farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting in huge numbers at Delhi's borders since November 2020, demanding the repeal of the three farm laws.

Enacted in September, the three legislations have been projected by the Centre as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.

The protesting farmers, on the other hand, have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and do away with the APMC markets, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.