A security person keeps vigil at Singhu Border. (PTI) The body of a 45-year-old farmer was found hanging from a tree at the farmers’ protest site at the Singhu border on Wednesday morning. The police said preliminary reports suggest the farmer allegedly died by suicide and added that inquest proceedings under CrPC section 174 have been initiated.
According to the police, the man was identified as Gurpreet Singh from Roorkee village in Fatehgarh Sahib district. He was associated with the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) Ekta Sidhupur.
Virender Singh, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Law and Order, Sonipat, said, “As per preliminary information, it appears to be a case of suicide. A probe has been initiated.”
Gurjinder Singh, district convener, Fatehgarh Sahib, BKU Ekta Sidhupur, said he received information about the incident around 6 am and rushed the man to a hospital, where he was declared dead.
“He had returned to the Singhu border site after visiting his village on Monday. In his conversation with farmers over the past two days, he had mentioned being upset over the impasse on the farm laws, and that despite farmers protesting for over a year, the government had not been listening to their demands,” Singh said.
Singh said the victim did not leave behind any note, “His left hand has one-word — ‘zimmedar (responsible)’ — written on it.” The police said the man is survived by his wife and a 20-year-old son, who is on his way to Sonipat from Punjab.
Jagjit Singh Dallewal, BKU Ekta Sidhupur, Punjab state president, said the man had been associated with their union since the agitation began. “He was regularly volunteering at morcha meetings and was part of protests. He had been camping at the Singhu border since last year.”
This is the ninth suicide at a border protest site since the farm agitation began in November last year.
Farmer leader Balwant Singh said they got to know about the incident around 7 am.
“We got to know about the incident around 7 am. He was at the protest site here at the Singhu border for the last three to four months. The body has been handed over to the police for the autopsy,” he said.
Hundreds of farmers have been camping at Delhi borders since November 2020, demanding the repeal of the three laws — Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
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hey are also demanding a new law to guarantee the minimum support price (MSP) for crops. The Centre, which has held 11 rounds of formal dialogue with farmers till now, has been insisting that the three laws are pro-farmer, while protesters have been claiming that the three enactments would leave them at the mercy of corporations.
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