By IANS,
Jammu : A man in his 60s committed suicide near here Thursday, the police said, with witnesses alleging he killed himself over the Amarnath land row.
Balwant Rai Khajuria, a retired official, allegedly consumed poison and ended his life at Hiranagar, 60 km southwest of Jammu.
The witnesses said he collapsed in front of members of the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti, which has been protesting the cancellation of the land allotment to a board managing the Amarnath yatra in the wake of protests in the Kashmir Valley.
He reportedly said before dying: “The government is not listening to us. I hereby end my life for the cause.”
On July 23, Kuldip Kumar, a young man from Bishanah, a township about 20 km west of Jammu, came to Samiti leaders on a relay hunger strike and committed suicide in a similar manner.
Samiti convenor Leela Karan Sharma has said: “Don’t kill yourself. It is time to struggle, not to commit suicide.”