Even as the State is yet to recover from the shock of alleged suicide by three farmers in western Odisha, another farmer has reportedly ended his life in Khurda district.
Abhimanyu Baliyarsingh, a farmer of Brajasundarpur village in Bolagarh block in Khurda district, was found dead in his field on Sunday. Since Saturday, he was missing from house. His family members traced him in the field on Sunday.
The farmer, who had two sons and two daughters, was rushed to Khurda district headquarter hospital where doctors declared him dead. His relatives claimed that Baliyarsingh had taken loan from different banks and private sources for this year.
Due to scanty rainfall, paddy crop in the kharif season was adversely affected in almost all parts of the State. Realising that he might fail to pay back the loan, Baliyarsingh was said to have consumed poisonous substance.
Meanwhile, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee has announced a padyatra from October 14 highlighting agrarian crisis in the State. “Farmer suicides in the State are occurring more frequently now. We will start People Awake March to highlight suffering of farmers,” said OPCC president Prasad Harichandan.
Last month, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had led a ‘Save Farmer March’ in Bargarh where suicides by five farmers had been reported since then.
