Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has ordered a probe to investigate after a dalit farmer couple consumed pesticide in a land encroachment issue and the Collector S Vishwanathan and SP Tarun Nayak were removed off duty for beating up a relative of the farmers in response using police force.
A video of police beating up the relatives of Rajkumar Ahirwar and Savitri, who had consumed pesticide and the picture of their children crying next to them went viral on social media. This has led o the action taken by the chief minister on the Collector and the SP.
District officials had come to clear the 45-bigha Guna land that was reserved for a government college. A part of the land was allegedly encroached by Ahirwar, who has claimed that he had leased the land and their livelihood depends on cultivation from the land.
When the officials continued to clear the land, the couple consumed pesticide and the police had booked them for not allowing officials to perform their duty. The collector had earlier told The Indian Express that the police had to ‘use force’ because the relatives were not allowing them to take the couple to the hospital. He claimed that the couple were instigated by someone to stop the team from clearing the encroachment.
Following the incident, Home minister Narottam Mishra said that senior officials from Bhopal will investigate the incident and take necessary action against those who were responsible.
