RANCHI: Former chief minister and
leader of the opposition
Hemant Soren on Monday visited
Bijang village
in Oremanjhi, where a farmer reportedly consumed pesticide and later died in a hospital. The farmer had reportedly taken a loan to buy a tractor and was reeling under debt.
After meeting the family of the deceased, Rajdeep Naik, Soren said, "Four farmers have committed suicide in a period of one month. Of them, three are from Ranchi. The situation has turned worse. Yet the government decides to turn a blind eye towards the issue."
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader spent at least an hour with the family and assured them of financial support from the party's fund. The party claimed that the family had mortgaged their four-acre farmland for Naik's eye treatment. "The government must provide compensation and aide to the children for their education," he said.
Meanwhile, police said they found several discrepancies in the family's statements on the reason behind the farmer's suicide. Initially, the family said Naik was bogged down by a loan of Rs 90,000 he took to purchase a tractor. However, preliminary investigation revealed that the loan for the tractor was taken by the deceased's elder brother Pradeep.
The family later alleged that Naik had taken the money as an agricultural loan from a private bank in Ranchi. The farmer then went into depression after bank officials recently issued a letter of loan recovery and visited his home.
"Family members said Naik had attempted suicide in 2015 as well. We are trying to get more details on the same," Ranchi deputy commissioner Manoj Kumar said.
The district administration on Sunday said Naik was unwell for quite some time and was suffering from tuberculosis.
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