The family of a debt-ridden farmer, who allegedly committed suicide here yesterday, refused to claim the body today even as the state government offered to pay Rs 8 lakh as compensation.
Shankar Chayare (50), who hailed from Rajurwadi village of Yavatmal district of Maharashtra, allegedly killed himself by consuming a poisonous chemical, apparently upset due to crop-loss, according to the police.
The situation in Rajurwadi village was said to be tense in view of the incident.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is likely to visit Yavatmal tomorrow.
The police said Chayare's daughter has given them a purported suicide note of the deceased in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been held responsible for the farmer's extreme step.
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Jayashree, the eldest daughter of the deceased, has filed a complaint against Modi in the Ghatanji Police Station.
The note, which the police insists was not recovered from the scene of the death, has been sent to handwriting experts for ascertaining its authenticity.
"The purported suicide note was submitted by Chayare's daughter Jayashree to Ghatanji police last night after it was circulated on social media," Ganesh Bhavsar, in-charge of the Ghatanji police station, told PTI.
"In the two-page note, PM Modi's name was written on the second page. Some sentences in the note have been struck out and some letters in the note are not written in a uniform style. Therefore, we have sent this note to the forensic sciences department to the handwriting experts," Bhavsar said.
"We have collected various documents from the deceased farmer's residence, in which his handwriting is available. That handwriting will be matched with the one in the suicide note," he added.
Yavatmal Superintendent of Police M Rajkumar said, "The police has sent the purported suicide note to handwriting experts to verify its authenticity."
Once the hand writing experts file their report, further course of action will be decided, he said adding that investigation in the case is on.
The deceased's family was today visited by SDO Bhuvaneshwari and some other officials.
However, Chayare's wife Alka and children refused to claim the body for the last rites despite appeals by the government representatives.
Bhuvaneshwari offered to pay Rs 8 lakh to the family on behalf of the state government in the presence of Shri Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Swalamban Mission Chairman Kishor Tiwari who also visited the deceased's house.
However, the family members demanded that they should get the assurance in writing and the SDO is learnt to have agreed.
The daughter of the deceased told reporters that her father remained aloof and quiet for the last few days.
The police had yesterday said that the loss of cotton crop due to a pest attack is suspected to be the prime reason behind Chayare taking the extreme step.
The suicide has already assumed a political colour.
State vice president of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Raju Umbarkar and other office bearers today met District Collector Chandrakant Jaju and submitted a memorandum of demands which include adequate compensation, a government job for one of the daughters and financial assistance announced by the government towards the red bollworm loss.
They also demanded total waiver of Chayare's debts.
According to the police, Chayare had taken a loan of Rs 90,000 from local credit cooperative society and borrowed Rs 3 lakh from a private money lender.
The Yavatmal police have taken into custody Shetkari Nyaya Hak Andolan Samiti convener Devanand Pawar, ex-MLA Vijaya Dhote, Milind Dhurve, Shailesh Ingole and others.
The police feared that these activists could create law and order situation during the chief minister's visit.
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