After his reply regarding the death of Bargarh farmer Hadu Bagarti in the State Assembly proved to be false and fabricated, embarrassed Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy on Monday ordered a fresh probe into Bagarti’s alleged suicide due to crop loss to ascertain the exact reason of the death.
“The Government is never happy at any tragic incident. A re-probe will be made into this death by the Government and the Bargarh Collector will be asked to do so,” said Maharathy.
Reiterating that whatever he had told in the Assembly was based on a report sent by the Bagarah district Collector, Maharathy said it needs to be ascertained whether Hadu consumed pesticide and whether he had any quarrel with family members.
“As the Collector said he had not visited the spot (before sending his report), I will ask him to take proper steps for a fresh probe,” said the Minister.
On March 4, Maharathy had stated in the Assembly that Hadu committed suicide following a quarrel with his wife. He ruled out any possibilities of loan burden or crop loss behind the farmer’s death.
However, much to his embarrassment, Hadu’s wife Kala Bagarti rejected the reason cited by the Maharathy. “No one (from the Government came to our house and, moreover, we had not quarreled,” she told the media.
Following Kala Bagarti’s startling revelations, the Minister passed the blame on Bargarh Collector Anjan Manik, who subsequently clarified that he had not personally visited the victim’s house and the probe findings were based on the reports of field officials, the Tehsildar and Assistant Agriculture Officer, before being sent to the Government with the joint signatures of the ADM and the SP.
The Collector said he was on leave on that day and the ADM was in charge of the Collector.