MP Farmer Dies After Being Allegedly Thrashed by Cops, 6 Suspended

Six police personnel have been suspended for allegedly beating up the farmer.

Police officers march on a street at Bandra during the coronavirus-lockdown in Mumbai. (Image for representation)

(Photo: PTI)

A 50-year-old farmer who was allegedly beaten up by police four days ago in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur during the lockdown for the coronavirus outbreak died on Monday, 20 April, officials said.

Six personnel have been suspended for allegedly beating up farmer Bansi Kushwaha (50) in Tilhari locality on 16 April, said Additional Superintendent of Police Dr Sanjeev Uike said.

Action has been taken against those personnel whose names the farmer took in a video that went viral on social media, Uike said, adding that an official of the rank of city superintendent of police (CSP) will probe the incident.

“Preliminary probe has revealed that the farmer was admitted in a hospital on 19 April for the treatment of an ailment. He did not lodge a complaint with either the local police or higher authorities. His post-mortem report is awaited,” Uike said.

Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath had shared the video, where the farmer is naming police personnel who hit him, on Twitter.

The farmer can be heard in the video saying he had gone out looking for his cow.

“A 50-year-old farmer named Bansi Kushwaha was brutally beaten up by police of Shivraj government in Jabalpur when he was returning from his fields after feeding and giving water to a cow. The poor farmer died due to this brutal beating,” Nath said, and demanded action against the culprits.