CM orders probe into farmer’s suicide after video goes viral

Khammam: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday ordered a probe after a farmer in Khammam district died by suicide, after alleging revenue and police officials failed to act on his complaint that some people had damaged his agricultural field.

B Prabhakar, 45, of Poddutur village of Chintakani mandal, made a video on before consuming pesticides. Taking serious note of the incident, the Chief Minister directed officials to conduct a thorough probe and take action against those responsible.

In the video, widely circulated on social media, the farmer said officials failed to act on his complaint that some villagers had damaged his agricultural field with earthmovers.

Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao also directed revenue and police officials to immediately conduct an inquiry and take action against those involved. The minister asked officials to submit the inquiry report to the government. He appealed to farmers not to end lives over disputes and assured them that they would get justice under the Congress rule.

Prabhakar, in his video, named five persons in his village who damaged his agriculture field spread over three acres under the survey numbers of 277 and 276, by digging up the soil using earthmovers. The accused named in his video included Kurapati Kishore, Pentyala Rama Rao, G Nagamalleshwar Rao, Mogul Srinu, and Muthiah.

In a video, which he purportedly shot near Khammam, he appealed to the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka to address the problem and do justice to his family. He said he had voted for the Congress wishing for a pro farmer government to come to power but was forced to die.

The farmer said he had complained to the local Sub-Inspector and Tahsildar, but they failed to solve his problem. He went to Khammam on Monday to bring the matter to the notice of the District Collector but as the grievance cell meeting was over, he could not do so.

After consuming the pesticide, he called his family. They informed the police and by the time his kin could reach the spot, Prabhakar was found dead.

Meanwhile, the body was shifted to the government hospital on Tuesday. After the postmortem, last rites were performed in his village. As the incident has shocked the village and district, police have set up pickets at Poddutur village to prevent any untoward incidents.