Teenager burnt to death as fire razes standing wheat crop in Ferozepur villages

Bathinda: A 19-year-old youth died and another sustained serious burn injuries after a fire engulfed standing wheat crop in Punjab's Ferozepur district on Sunday afternoon. The fire, fanned by high-velocity winds, spread rapidly from Sadhuwala village to the nearby villages of Sodhiwala and Ratol Rohi.
Two youth on a motorcycle were trapped in thick smoke and flames that had spilled onto the road near Sodhiwala. Both were taken to Guru Gobind Singh Medical College in Faridkot, where one of them, Karanpal Singh, was declared dead. The injured has been identified as Arjun Singh.
Apart from the loss of life, vast stretches of standing wheat crop were also destroyed, along with a tractor and the motorbike.
SHO Baljinder Singh from Zira Sadar police station confirmed the death and stated that an investigation is under way. Farmer Roman Brar from Ratol Rohi said the fire spread so quickly that farmers had no time to respond.
Similar fire incidents were reported from across Punjab on Sunday, with over a dozen cases in Ferozepur, Moga, Bathinda, and Muktsar districts. Tensions flared in several villages of Guru Har Sahai sub-division in Ferozepur when local farmers confronted the sub-divisional magistrate during his visit to assess the damage.
Farmers Rajinder Singh, Mohinder Singh, and others accused the administration of apathy. "If it was a case of stubble burning, fire tenders would have reached within five minutes. But when standing crops catch fire — the fruits of six months' labour — help arrives after three hours," they said. "Under such hopeless circumstances, small farmers are being pushed to the brink."
In some areas, fires also reached grid sub-stations, including one near Malout on the Bathinda road, leading to power outages in surrounding villages.
In a heart-wrenching image, farmer Raja Singh from Mari Mustafa village in Moga district. broke down after watching his 2-acre wheat crop — grown on leased land — turn to ashes on Saturday. The emotional visuals of his granddaughter comforting him quickly went viral on social media, drawing sympathy, prayers, and offers of financial support.
The fire that gutted Raja Singh's crop reportedly originated in Mari Mustafa and spread to Panjgrian village, where it consumed several more acres of farmland.