In a very sad incident, a 55 year old man from Punjab, who had gone to show solidarity with the agitating farmers, was burnt alive while sleeping inside his car, when it caught fire on Saturday night near the Delhi-Haryana border.
As per NDTV report, a tractor mechanic by profession, Janak Raj, had gone to Delhi to voluntarily repair tractors that were being used by farmers camping near Delhi, to protest against the centre's agricultural laws that were passed recently.
After finishing his work late at night near Bahadurgarh (Delhi-Haryana border), Janak Raj went to sleep in the car and even while he was asleep the vehicle caught fire and he was burnt alive, officials said. Janak Raj was a resident of Dhanolua village in Barnala district.
Shiromani Akali Dal, condoling the man's death, said that his name would also be immortalized in the history of the peasant movement.
'It was saddening to learn of the death of Janak Raj, a hard worker of the Indian Farmers Union (Ugrahan) who was working as a tractor repairman in the Kisan Andolan, in a fire accident near Bahadurgarh (Delhi-Haryana border). His name will also be immortalized in the history of the peasant movement,' Harsimrat Kaur Badal tweeted.
All farmer organizations have expressed regret over the death of Janak Raj.
Thousands of farmers are camping in and around Delhi to protest against the three new laws aimed at bringing reforms by doing away with middlemen and improving farmers' earnings by allowing them to sell produce anywhere in the country.
Farmers and opposition parties allege that the laws will deprive the farmers of guaranteed minimum price for their produce and leave them at the mercy of corporates.
The protest, which has seen farmers from six states, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Kerala and Punjab, entered its fourth day on Sunday.
