JOIN USA 75-year-old farmer died in front of the Bharatiya Janata Party's central office on Ashok Road on Friday during a protest against land acquisition in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh’s Anuppur district, police said.
The man, who was protesting along with others in the scorching heat, died of a heat stroke, police said.
“The deceased has been identified as Kartar Singh of Bhora Kalan at Muzaffarnagar in UP. He was protesting along with thousands of farmers outside BJP office at Ashok Road since Friday morning,” said a senior police officer.
Singh died around 2 pm due to non-availability of water at the protest site, said the officer. He was rushed to nearby hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.
The farmers were protesting against the acquisition of their land in 2010 for a Moser Baer thermal power plant under Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act.
Farmers from Haryana, Punjab, UP, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh were demanding immediate release of arrested Anuppur farmers and fair compensation for their land.
“The Madhya Pradesh government is not paying heed to our problems and that is the reason that we had to come here to Delhi and voice our concern in the capital,” a protester said.