Chamarajanagar: A farmer who attempted suicide in front of the Tahsildar’s office on May 22 along with two of his family members died at the K R Hospital in Mysuru on Wednesday. The victim  has been identified as Basavanna (68) of Mariyalla, Chamarajanagar district.

The family had alleged harassment by officials of the Revenue Department and Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Company Ltd. According to a family member, the trio attempted suicide alleging that Chamarajanagar Tahsildar Mahadevaiah cancelled the NoC for their poultry farm following a neighbour’s complaint of stench. The power utility also disconnected supply to the farm.

According to Basavanna’s family, he had submitted the application for an NoC to Badanaguppe GP. But PDO Nanjundaswamy is said to informed him that the NoC cannot be given. The farmer on May 22 met Tahsildar Mahadevaiah asking him to instruct the PDO to give the NoC.  When the Tahsildar failed to help him, he and two of his family members attempted suicide.

After the postmortem, Basavanna’s body was handed over to the villagers. The villagers kept the body in front of the DC’s office and staged a protest, seeking action against the PDO and the tahsildar. The police booked a criminal case against the tahsildar and the PDO.