BHOPAL: Following the incidents of firing in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh in which at least five farmers were killed on Tuesday, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan dropped his plans to visit Gwalior and chaired an emergency meeting of the State Cabinet here. After the meeting, he announced a judicial probe into the entire episode and declared a compensation of Rs 1 crore to the kin of each of the deceased persons.
“It’s an unfortunate episode and I express heart-felt condolence to the kin of the deceased. A judicial probe has been ordered to ascertain how the farmers died,” said Chouhan, who also promised government jobs to the dependents of the deceased. Further, the CM also declared a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the injured.
Earlier, around 12.30 am on Tuesday, a mob vandalised the railway gate at Daloda area of Mandsaur and tried to damage the tracks on the Ratlam-Udaipur section of Western Railway.
Meanwhile, curfew was clamped in Pipliya Mandi and Mandsaur towns of Mandsaur district.
With the protestors and anti-social elements allegedly using social media for inciting violence in districts of the Ujjain division, Internet services were blocked in four districts, including Ujjain, Neemuch, Mandsaur and Ratlam, late on Monday night.
With most of the deceased persons hailing from the powerful Patidar community, the ruling BJP, which has been facing the wrath of the same community in Gujarat, is bound to be at the receiving end of the community in the coming local body elections which will possibly be held in July in the State. The Congress which faced a wash-out in the 2013 Assembly polls and the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in the 15 districts of Malwa-Nimar region, is hoping to stage a comeback in this crucial region of west MP, which was once its citadel.
Additional DG of police (ADG-Ujjain) V Madhu Kumar, who rushed to Mandsaur, told The New Indian Express that only an autopsy of the victims would reveal who actually opened fire on the protesting farmers. “The remains of bullets found on the bodies will establish who actually fired on the protestors — whether it was the police or anyone else,” said Kumar.
Farmers across the State have been agitating since June 1 demanding cost-based returns for their produce as well as waiver of loans totaling around Rs 45,000 crore.
Incidents of violence and looting of vehicles carrying essentials and milk were reported from parts of western Madhya Pradesh, including Indore, Ujjain, Shajapur, Agar Malwa, Ratlam, Harda, Dhar, Jhabua, Khargone, Mandsaur and Neemuch.
Meanwhile, Ratlam SP Amit Singh announced a reward of Rs 10,000 on Ratlam district panchayat vice-chairman and Congress leader D P Dhakar. He was allegedly behind the violence in Delanpur village, which led to the grievous eye injury of assistant sub-inspector Pawan Yadav. Dhakar, who is on the run, has been booked under Section 307 of the IPC for attempted murder.