Suicide blamed on futile bank visits

TT, Burdwan, Nov. 21: A farmer allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree in Burdwan's Kalna this afternoon after he failed to withdraw Rs 5,000 from a local bank to pay his labourers.

The body of Shibu Mandi, a resident of Rahatpur village, was found hanging from a mango tree, barely 100 metres from his home.

Shibu's youngest son Milan, a farm labourer, said his father had cultivated onions on a two-and-a-half bigha plot.

"My father had engaged some labourers to harvest the crop and owed them Rs 5,000. He had been visiting the local cooperative bank (Akchaka Krishi O Samabay Samiti) for the past one week but could not withdraw the money from his account as there was no supply of cash there. On one occasion, he was offered only Rs 500, which he did not withdraw eventually," Milan said.

Shibu's labourers were demanding their wages for the past one week. They also abused him several times, the farmer's son said.

"The labourers had asked me to tell my father to arrange for the money. I tried to reason with them that my father was not doing it intentionally. My mother often asked him why he was holding on to the payments as she did not understand the problem. Over the past two days, he looked very worried and stayed mostly at home," Milan said.

Milan said he and his mother had gone out to work in the fields when his father hanged himself.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted about the suicide late in the evening.

"More sad news. A farmer Shibu Nandi commits suicide in Kalna, Burdwan, Bengal... He alleges because of Demonetisation he couldn't pay wages to labour. Farmer was a tribal," she said.

The cooperative bank where Shibu had his account is under the district central cooperative bank in Burdwan town.

Dipak Sikdar, the deputy manager of the Burdwan-based bank, said: "This is an unfortunate incident. There are about 500 cooperative banks under us in the rural areas of Burdwan. After the demonetisation decision, the flow of cash from our lead banks has dropped sharply."

The subdivisional officer of Kalna, Nitin Singhania, said he had been informed about the suicide.

"Separate inquiries are being conducted by the district administrative and the police to find out what led to the death of the farmer," the SDO said.

District Trinamul president Swapan Debnath visited the farmer's house this evening.

"The man committed suicide, unable to bear the insult he faced from the labourers. I have informed the chief minister about the matter," said Debnath.

Kerala tragedy

A 73-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling of his house in Erumely district today.

Police said Pambavali Theruvanparambil Omanakkuttan Pillai, who had Rs 5 lakh in the Kanamala Service Cooperative Bank, was worried about the fate of his money in the wake of the demonetisation drive.