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Four farmers ended their lives in Maharashtra in the last two days, including one in Solapur district who left a note purportedly stating that he should not be cremated till the chief minister visits his place and meets their demands.
Dhanaji Jadhav, 45, hung himself from a tree near his house at Veet village in Karmala tehsil on Wednesday night, Solapur Collector Rajendra Bhosale said.
According to the police, Jadhav's suicide note, addressed to his friends and relatives, said, "I am a farmer, Dhanaji Chandrakant Jadhav. I am committing suicide today. Please take my body to village and do not cremate me till Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis comes here."
Solapur's Guardian Minister Vijay Deshmukh visited the village on Thursday.
Jadhav, survived by wife and two children, was the eldest son of his parents. He possessed 2.5 acres of cultivable land and had a debt of around Rs 60,000. He also took loan from some private lenders, police said.
All the four farmers' suicides in the last 48 hours were due to non-payment of loans from banks and private money lenders, the police said.
A 48 year-old farmer, Hanumant Pandurang Shinde, reeling under debt, committed suicide by consuming poison at Gondavewadi in Pune district, police said.
Shinde was found dead in a field today, they said. Shinde had suffered losses and had no money to organise his daughter's marriage, the police said.
Shinde, who was allegedly depressed, went to his farm and consumed a poisonous substance, police said.
In Wardha district, farmer Ishwar Baliram Ingale, 55, allegedly committed suicide by hanging from a tree in his farm, the police said.
Ingale, a resident of Brahmanwadi on Wednesday went to his farm. He had told his wife to bring breakfast after two hours, police said, adding when his wife went to the farm, she found him hanging from the tree.
Ingale had taken a loan of Rs 1.39 lakh from a nationalised bank and was unable to repay it. He was worried since the last few months, police said.
In Satara district of western Maharashtra, a 35-year-old farmer Suresh Shankar Sable ended his life by consuming poison on June 5 in Man tehsil, police said.
He had sought a job at a jaggery producing unit at Karad in the district as there was no produce in his own farm, police said.
Fadnavis has been under attack by opposition parties and the BJP's ally Shiv Sena over sustained protests by farmers across the state for last one week, resulting in sharp rise in agri commodity prices.
The chief minister's recent statement promising a loan waiver by October 31 has failed to pacify the agitating farmers, who have continued with their stir.
IMAGE: People gather outside Dhanaji Jadhav's residence.