By IANS
Kolkata : In the second such suicide since March, a farmer hanged himself in Singur, the area in West Bengal that has been witnessing unrest over land acquisition for a Tata Motors project.
Prasanta Das' family members allege that he took the extreme step Thursday night as he had been depressed since his land was acquired for the small car project. His body was found in the wee hours of Friday.
Das, 40, was a member of the anti-land acquisition Singur Krishijami Raksha Committee.
He hanged himself from the ceiling, senior police official Kalyan Mukherjee confirmed. Mukherjee, however, refused to comment on the reason behind the death.
The dead farmer was a resident of Khaserveri area in Singur, about 40 km from Kolkata in Hooghly district.
Das' land was acquired by the government for the Tata Motors small car factory coming up in the area and he was suffering from depression since the forcible acquisition, Becharam Manna, the leader of the committee, told IANS.
"He was depressed. He had not been able to till his land for one year and was worried about the future of his two daughters. He had refused to accept money as compensation for the Tata project and was an active member of the movement," Manna said.
Earlier on March 13, farmer Haradhan Bag had committed suicide in Singur. Anti-Tata project activists had claimed that land loss was behind that death too.
Fresh tension is brewing at the site of the upcoming Tata Motors' small car unit in Singur. On May 20, hundreds of Singur Krishjami Raksha Committee members clashed with police who had to fire teargas shells and charge with batons to disperse the mob that seemed determined to reclaim their lands acquired for the project.
Over 997 acres of land in Singur have been chosen 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.