Mandsaur violence: Madhya Pradesh govt constitutes one-member committee to probe death of five farmers

Curfew was lifted completely from Madhya Pradesh`s Mandsaur district on Monday.

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh government has constituted a one-member committee of retired HC judge JK Jain for enquiry of death of five farmers in firing in Mandsaur.

The committee will submit its report within three months to the state government.

The probe panel, to be based in Indore, will probe under what circumstances the police firing and subsequent deaths occurred, was the police action appropriate to the given situation, if not, who all are guilty and whether civil and police officials in the district had taken adequate necessary steps in the run-up to the incidents or not, as per IANS.

Meanwhile, curfew was lifted completely from Mandsaur district, the epicentre of a violent stir by farmers, as the situation there remained peaceful today.

Curfew was lifted from all three police station areas of Mandsaur city yesterday, but was in place in Pipliamandi police station area, which is 15 kms from Mandsaur district headquarters and where five farmers were killed in separate police firings during the agitation.

The curfew from 8 pm to 8 am has been lifted although prohibitory orders under CrPC section 144, which bans assembly of more than four persons, will remain in force, Additional Collector of the district Arjun Singh Dabar said, as per PTI.

Farmers in the state began protests over low prices for their crops on June 1.

The Mandsaur-Neemuch region, about 300 km from the state capital Bhopal, became the nerve centre of the gathering storm of farmer distress. Later, protests spread to some other parts of the state.

In Mandsaur, the curfew was imposed after five persons were killed in police firing during a farmers' protest on June 6. 

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had sat on an indefinite fast on Saturday, appealing for peace to farmers demanding loan waivers and remunerative prices for their produce.

He ended it the next day while announcing a slew of schemes but issued a stern warning to those who engaged in "incendiary activities".

(With Agency inputs)