MP: Depressed Over Losing Land, Two Farmers Consume Poison; One Dead, Another Serious

Neemuch/ Mandsaur (Madhya Pradesh): Two farmer brothers – Jagdish and Kailash Patidar --allegedly consumed poison after losing agricultural land in Mandsaur. While Jagdish died, Kailash was struggling for life in hospital.

The incident was reported from Sandhara village in Bhanpura-Garoth tehsil of Mandsaur district on Friday morning. On Thursday, the administration had destroyed standing crop and structure erected by the two brothers on the land that they had been cultivating for the last two decades.

Family members accused local BJP MLA Devi Lal Dhakad of harassment. The video has gone viral on social media. It was claimed that the two brothers had encroached upon government land two decades back. Resentment is brewing among Patidar community over the incident.

Many community members reached the village and staged protest. A heavy police force was deployed in the village.  Flashback as per family members Jagdish’s family members said: Though it was government land, Jagdish’s father had bought it from Seth Ganediwal in 1957 for Rs 1 lakh on a stamp paper.

Since then, the family had been growing crops on the land. Due to the death of Seth Ganediwal, land’s registry could not be done. During the Ceiling Act in 2003, the land was allotted to Industries Department. However, Jagdish and Kailash continued to till the land.

The Patidar family had shifted to Sandhara around 70 years ago after selling their land and property in Chukni village under Manasa tehsil of Neemuch. They purchased the above-mentioned land. Since then they were tilling the land to earn their livelihood.

District administration’s justification The administration said that Jagdish and Kailash were tilling government land that was allotted to Industries Department in 2003 by the then minister Subhash Sojatiya. The administration said that the encroachment was cleared at that time. However, the two brothers returned to occupy the land.

After deciding to develop industrial area over the said land, industries department used JCB to clear the crops for Bhoomi pujan. The two farmers then consumed poison and were referred to Jhalawar Hospital in nearby Rajasthan in critical condition, where doctors declared him brought dead.

Resentment among Patidar community Resentment is brewing in Patidar community after the death of the farmer. Patidar Samaj of nearby districts along with state president of Patidar Samaj have also reached Bhanpura. Collector and SP are camping at Bhanpura police station to deal with the huge crowd and unpleasant situation. 

Along with this, a police force has also been deployed in the area. The people of the society are demanding that the land be given back to victim's family. Along with this, a government job and Rs 1 crore compensation be also given to one of the family members. They demanded that responsible officers be booked on murder charges and threatened to take the body to Bhopal and protest in front of CM’s official residence.