BHOPAL: The surge of reports of farmer suicides in Madhya Pradesh continued with two more debt-ridden cultivators allegedly taking their own lives in the past 24 hours, taking the total number 19 since June 8.
The two fresh cases were reported from Sagar and Chhatarpur districts in Bundelkhand region.
A 48-year-old farmer identified as Gulai Kurmi, native of Basahri village in Sagar district, allegedly hanged himself near his farm Wednesday evening. A suicide note purportedly written by him was found at the spot.
The note stated that he had borrowed Rs 1 lakh from money lender Shankar Udayniya some years back. But using fabricated documents, the moneylender made Gulai Kurmi pledge a large part of his land as security.
Although the farmer repaid the loan, the moneylender insisted that the outstanding amount had risen to Rs 2.5 lakh. The moneylender allegedly put pressure on Gulai Kurmi to pay up.
Sub-divisional police officer R S Parmar said the police are matching the writing in the suicide note with the handwriting of the deceased farmer. If the contents of the suicide note are found to be correct, stringent action would be taken, said Parmar.
In another incident, a 75-year-old farmer Mahesh Tiwari allegedly hanged himself to death at his house in Sandhya Vihar Colony in the Civil Lines area of Chhatarpur district on Wednesday night.
His son Om Prakash Tiwari said the farmer was heavily indebted to local moneylenders. The debt burden became worse due to drought in the past few years and heavy rainfall last year.
Civil Lines police station senior officer Arvind Kujur, however, claimed that primary probe has revealed that Tiwari committed suicide owing to a prolonged illness.
Meanwhile, agitated over the inadequate provisions available for weighing produce at the mandis, a large number of farmers picketed the rail tracks on the Itarsi-Khandwa section in the Seoni Malwa area of Hoshangabad district for around 40 minutes Thursday.
The blockade, however, was cleared after the administration arranged more weighing machines at the mandi in Seoni Malwa, said the SP of Hoshangabad AP Singh.