Rajkot: Dramatic scenes were witnessed at the inauguration of Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) at Prasali village of Sutrapada taluka in Gir Somnath by chief minister Vijay Rupani on Sunday after a farmer attempted suicide when the CM was delivering his address.The farmer, identified as Masri Dodiya (45), a resident of Dolasa village of Kodinar taluka, was rescued just when he opened the bottle of insecticide and gulped down his throat its contents.“We rushed him to Veraval Civil Hospital and his condition is said to be out of danger. In his statement, Dodiya told us that his agricultural land had been encroached upon, and he had made representations to the district collector and CM office too requesting action. As nothing was done on his complaint, he decided to end his life,” said an official from Sutrapada police station.This incident caused a flutter among the farmers as Dodiya suddenly stood up from his chair while Rupani was speaking, took out the bottle of insecticide from his pocket and consumed its contents.Police said Dodiya had earlier warned of self-immolation if his complaint was not resolved. However, he had not specified the place and time of immolation.Dodiya later told reporters that the encroachment of the panchayat land, which he claimed was the handiwork of the land mafia, had made it difficult for him to enter his own farm. “Some land mafia closed the road leading to my farm by encroaching upon a land. I had approached the chief minister, who had ordered that the encroachment be removed, but nothing has happened so far,” Dodiya said.“I have made repeated appeals to the village Panchayat officials and the taluka development officer (TDO) but in vain. Fed up of running around, I decided to end my life,” he told reporters at the hospital.

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