MP: Farmer burns himself in police station to push authorities to act against inferior pesticides
In a tragic incident occurred in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district after a farmer set himself on fire in the police station as he was supplied by poor quality pesticides which damaged his entire soyabean cultivation field.
The agriculture department in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district has launched an investigation into reports of inferior pesticide quality after a farmer set himself on fire to stress his demand for an investigation, police said on Tuesday. The farmer was burned by 25% and is being treated at Sagar Medical College.
“The farmer sowed soybean crop in two bigha land, but the crop failed due to bugs,” said Sagar assistant superintendent of police Vikram Singh. The farmer filed a complaint with the agriculture department against the shopkeeper for selling inferior pesticides, but no action was taken. He filed a report at the Banda police station on Monday.”
Because no action was taken promptly, on Tuesday the farmer told his wife that he would commit suicide in order to persuade authorities that substandard pesticide was sold to them. He dashed to the Banda police station, opened a container of gasoline, and burned himself on fire. “The farmer’s wife, villagers, and police personnel extinguished the fire and rushed him to the hospital,” a police officer said.
