TIRUPUR: Depressed over a private bank confiscating his tractor for not repaying the last two instalments of the loan he had obtained to buy it, a 60-year-old farmer from the district committed suicide by consuming pesticide.
Following the incident, various farmers associations staged a protest in front of the bank’s Kumar Nagar branch demanding that the police register a case of murder. They also demanded that it pay `25 lakh compensation.
The bank agreed to waive the loan and return the tractor to the family, following which they called off the protest. The deceased, Vellingirinathan, who owns 12 acres in Ganapathypalayam village in Palladam taluk had bought the tractor in January 2016 by taking a loan of `7,50,000 from the Kotak Mahindra Bank, Salem.
On Wednesday, bank manager Kanagaraj and his staff approached the Palladam police with legal requisition to help them in seizing the tractor. It was seized from Velligirinathan’s house when he was not there. On being told of it, the farmer came to Palladam and tried to negotiate with the bank manager, who turned down his request. Depressed over this, he consumed pesticide.