The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday accused the Delhi Police of being responsible for the death of farmer Gajendra Singh, who had committed suicide by hanging himself during a rally in the national capital, announcing a monetary compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the latter's family.
"Party leaders have met with Arvind Kejriwal. Yesterday's incident is a representative of the state of the country's farmers. Our workers attempted to save his life but were unsuccessful. The party has decided to give Gajendra Singh's family a compensation of Rs 10 lakh. An AAP delegation will also travel to his house in the village and express grief on behalf of the party," AAP leader Sanjay Singh told the media.
"The way the Delhi Police has demonstrated its carelessness and intolerance has been captured in the media - how no steps were taken to save his life despite repeated appeals. If the Centre is using the Delhi Police as its puppet, then it is very unfortunate," he added.
Meanwhile, party leader Kumar Vishwas said that the FIR filed by the Delhi Police was false.
"Yesterday's incident was very unfortunate. People are desperate to push the blame for the incident but I feel that the entire 1.25 billion people of India are responsible, when even 68 years after independence, a farmer has to resort to committing suicide when his crops fail," he said.
"The Delhi Police has filed an FIR today, where they have said that AAP workers did not allow them to reach Gajendra, which is patently false. Farmers across the country have cited loss of crops as reason for their committing or attempting suicide. Yesterday it was announced that a magisterial enquiry would be initiated in the case. Today Delhi Police refused to work with them," he added.
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Gajendra had committed suicide on Wednesday by hanging himself from a tree during an Aam Aadmi Party rally against the land Acquisition Bill in the national capital.
As per reports, a suicide note was found that revealed the farmer, who had three children, was banished from his house after his crop was damaged. He took the extreme step because he had no means of support his family.