Delhi farmer, who bought flight tickets for workers during 2020 lockdown, dies by suicide

A 55-year-old mushroom farmer, who had sent 10 of his workers to their home state Bihar by aircraft during the coronavirus-induced lockdown in 2020, died allegedly by suicide inside a temple in Outer Delhi's Alipur, police said on Wednesday.

Pappan Singh Gahlot was found hanging in the Shiva temple located opposite his house in Tigipur village at around 5 pm on Tuesday, police said. He cited health reasons in his suicide note for taking the extreme step.

According to police, Gahlot used to visit the temple every day. However, on Tuesday evening, the priest saw him hanging from a ceiling fan and informed the police.

"A suicide note was found according to which, he killed himself because of his health issues such as blood pressure and sugar.

"There is no suspicion of any foul play until now. His body has been preserved for post-mortem at BJRM hospital," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North) Brijendra Yadav said.

Police said Gahlot's family members have not expressed any suspicion either, adding further inquest proceedings will be carried out according to the procedure.

Naveen Ram, who was among the 10 migrant workers whose air travel was funded by Gahlot, expressed shock and said he had met his boss on Monday.

"I am shocked. He (Singh) was like my father. He had come to meet us in the agriculture field on Monday. He was taking care of our needs. He was a very good person," Ram told PTI over phone on Wednesday.

Ram said Singh is survived by his wife and daughter. He was cremated on Wednesday.

Pappan shot to limelight in May 2020 after he bought plane tickets worth Rs 68,000 for his workers.

"These 10 workers would have left for their homes in Bihar in the first week of April on train but they could not go due to the lockdown," Pappan had told PTI back then.

He had said he made several attempts to send them by a Shramik Special train but could not manage to do so and had hence decided to send them by air. In August 2020, Pappan had also booked their return air tickets.

"I could not take a risk by allowing my workers to walk thousands of miles because we are getting to know these days that migrant labourers meet with road accidents while walking home," Pappan had told PTI during the beginning of the lockdown.