Farmer ends life over losing his land for industrial zone

HYDERABAD: Fearing that his agricultural land will be taken for the proposed industrial zone, a 38-year-old farmer in Kamareddy district died by suicide, provoking a farmer-led protest demanding that the project be scrapped.

The farmer was identified as P. Ramulu, a native of Adloor Yellareddy in Sadashivanagar mandal in Kamareddy district. He is survived by wife and two children.

Enraged family members of the deceased and farmers attempted to protest in front of the Kamareddy municipal office along with the body of the farmer. However, police thwarted their protests, and later the farmers protested for two hours on old National Highway 44 at the Kamareddy bus terminal.

Following the police restrictions, the protesters left the body on the road and marched to the municipal office, where they staged an agitation till Wednesday evening. The police shifted the body for post-mortem analysis to the government hospital in Kamareddy. A large number of police personnel were deployed to prevent any untoward incidents in Kamareddy.

Meanwhile, Kamareddy municipal commissioner Devender tried to pacify the protesters by assuring that the government would accept objections to new master plan plans until January 11. Further, he tried to allay the farmers' fears by stating that the proposed project may be altered based on feedback.