A 55-year-old farmer who was protesting outside Shree Cement Factory in Benakanahalli village of Sedam taluk for the last six months demanding adequate compensation for his land, died on Sunday morning.
The deceased was identified as Devendrappa Mallannappa Jogera, a farmer from Benakanahalli village. The deceased had sold his two-and-a-half acre land to Shree Cement Factory. He is survived by wife, two sons and one daughter.
Tension prevailed in front of the factory gate for some time, as a large number of people gathered as the news of protesting farmer’s death spread across the village. The factory gate was closed as the protesting farmers did not shift the body for more than an hour.
A group of farmers, who have sold their agricultural land to Shree Cement Factory, have been on an indefinite sit-in protest since December 2022, demanding the better price for their land being sold for establishing the factory.
Shranabasappa Mamshetty, district president of Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha, said that the agitating farmer Devendrappa’s health was normal at night; on Sunday morning, he suddenly developed chest pain and collapsed on the spot, he added.