By IANS
Kolkata : A farmer of Singur in West Bengal Monday died of alleged starvation caused by the loss of livelihood following acquisition of farmland for the upcoming Tata Motors small car project.
Sankar Das, a resident of Dobadi village near Singur, died early morning. According to Sankar's neighbours and the Singur Krishijami Raksha Committee (Save Farmland Committee), the deceased was living in penury and was going without food after losing work in a field taken over for the Tata Motors project.
Police, however, said it was a natural death and Sankar died of cardio-respiratory problem.
"We have received no complaints from any party. It was quite a normal death. We have already handed over the body to his relatives for cremation," Asit Pal, additional superintendent of police (Hooghly district), told IANS.
The members of Singur Krsihijami Raksha Committee – which is protesting land acquisition in Singur, claimed that Sankar, who was an unrecorded agricultural worker, didn't join the construction work at Tata's factory site since he was protesting land acquisition by the government for the project.
"He didn't join the construction work at Tata's factory site in Singur. He was an active member of the anti-land acquisition movement. He didn't bend down before the company," said committee convenor Becharam Manna.
He said Sankar used to work as an agricultural labourer in the land at Tata factory site before it was acquired by the state government.
"The situation became so bad that seven members of Sankar's family spent several nights without having any food," he said.
Meanwhile in Kolkata, women cadres of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI), a left party outside the ruling Left Front, clashed with police in front of the north gate of the West Bengal Assembly as they tried to enter the premises. They were demanding punishment for the rapists and killers of Tapasi Malik, a girl in Singur.
Earlier in May, 32-year-old farmer Prasanta Das committed suicide in Khaserbheri village of Singur after he failed to sustain his family, having lost his land to the Tata Motors project.
In March, farmer Haradhan Bag had also ended his life in Singur. Anti-Tata project activists had claimed that land loss was behind his death too.
Over 997 acres of land in Singur have been acquired by Tata Motors for its small car project. The issue has triggered a violent face-off between the government and farmers led by civil society groups and parties like the Trinamool Congress.