Unable to repay ₹40,000 to a bank, a marginal farmer allegedly hanged himself from a tree in his agriculture field in village Salempur Khadar of Bijnor district on Sunday morning, said senior sub-inspector of Heempur Deepa police station, Umakant Tiwari.
“The deceased, Ranveer Singh, 38, had a land holding of just three bigha. According to his family, he was upset about being unable to repay the bank loan. Investigation is underway to verify their account and probe the incident from all angles,” said Tiwari.
The cop said that a group of village children who were out to collect fodder first spotted Singh’s body, which was hanging from a tree. “They informed some villagers and the incident was reported to the police. We have sent the body for post-mortem examination and are awaiting the report,” he said.
The deceased was the youngest among three brothers. His brothers, Ashok and Pawan, told the police that he had to repay the loan to the Jalalpur branch of Punjab National Bank and was worried about that.
“According to his brothers, he took a loan of ₹35,000 on his ‘Krishi card’ around two years ago and had returned a small part of it. However, due to mounting interest, he still had to repay ₹40,000, for which some bank employees had visited his house around a month ago. His family members said he had been quite upset since then,” said Tiwari.
Police said that Singh’s wife had gone to visit her parents and other family members were also away to attend the last rites of a relative in a neighbouring village. “Only his elder daughter was at home at the time of the incident,” said Tiwari.
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