Sangrur farmer takes poison during officials' farm fire visit 

A 45-year-old farmer Kulwant Singh from Hamirgarh village here allegedly consumed poison when a team of the civil administration reportedly went to his fields to prepare a report on paddy stubble burning.

Sources said Kulwant had set his paddy residue on fire on Thursday, and a police team had also visited the spot. However, when he was working in his fields today, a team visited the site.

“The team humiliated him in such a way that he consumed the pesticide lying there in his fields. The farmer owns nearly 10 acres of farmland. His blood pressure level is so high,” said Rinku Moonak, secretary, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan), Moonak block, while speaking over the phone. He claimed Kulwant had tried to explain that he had not set his fields on fire today and was sowing wheat.

Meanwhile, a video of Kulwant’s son went viral on social media, accusing the civil administration team of forcing his father to attempt suicide. “This team is responsible for my father consuming the spray,” his son said in the video, while showing the car in which officials had reportedly arrived at the fields.

Kulwant was first taken to the Moonak Civil Hospital and later referred to the Civil Hospital at Tohana in Haryana. Tohana is about 20-km from Hamirgarh village.

On this, DSP Moonak Gurinder Singh said, “The SHO is present at the hospital. I have learnt that the condition of the farmer is stable and he is able to walk.”

He added, “A team of the civil administration might have gone there after receiving a satellite report of stubble burning. There could be some other reason behind his consuming the pesticide. Several cases have been registered in the district for burning paddy stubble.”

Meanwhile, a farmer leader Jagtar Singh, who was also present at the hospital said, “The condition of Kulwant is critical as of now.”