A 62-year-old farmer, who was part of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation, died of cardiac arrest in Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border. The death toll has mounted to four, said farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Friday.
Pandher, General Secretary of Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, said that the deceased farmer Darshan Singh was a resident of Amargarh village in Bathinda district.
“He was at the Khanauri border and is the fourth martyr of this farmers’ agitation. He has been identified as Darshan Singh (62). He died of a heart attack,” Pandher said, as quoted by ANI.
He demanded that compensation of Rs five lakh, as has been done in earlier cases, should to given to the members of his family.
The news of his death comes in the backdrop of the killing of a 21-year-old youth, who was also part of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation that started from February 13. Shubhkaran was killed in clashes between the Haryana Police and farmers from Punjab. The incident took place when some protesting farmers rushed towards barricades at Khanauri. Twelve police personnel were also injured in the clashes.
Earlier, another 73-year-old farmer died of a heart attack, while a 63-year-old farmer died of a cardiac arrest at the Shambhu border.
In the wake of the death of Shubhkaran, farm leaders on Wednesday put the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march on hold for two days saying they would decide their next course of action on Friday evening. The farmers have also observed ‘Black Day’ on Friday.
Thousands of farmers remain camped at Khanauri and Shambhu with their tractor-trolleys and trucks still blocking the roads since February 13, demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendation, reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, a law on MSP, among others.
In the fourth round of talks on February 18, a panel of three Union Ministers, including agriculture minister Arjun Munda, had proposed buying five crops – moong dal, urad dal, toor dal, maize and cotton – from farmers at MSP for five years through central agencies.