Farmers suspend march to Delhi for 2 days after a protester dies during clash with police

Farmers' group AIKS (All-India Kisan Sabha) alleged that the farmer died during the police action.

However, the farmers will continue the sit-in protest.

A doctor at a Patiala hospital, where he was taken, said he had sustained a bullet wound. A post-mortem is awaited.

"Three patients have come to us from Khanauri. One of them was dead on arrival, the other two are stable and seem to have sustained bullet injuries on head and thigh respectively, but it can't be confirmed," said Dr Rekhi, the senior medical officer of Patiala's Rajendra Hospital.

"The person who was dead on arrival had a bullet injury on his head, but more details such as size of the bullet can only be confirmed after post-mortem," he said.

"Shubh Karan Singh, who was seriously injured in the police action, succumbed to his injuries at Government Rajindra Hospital in Patiala. His death is a direct result of police action," read a statement from the AIKS.

Shubh Karan Singh, 23, was a resident of Bathinda. He was the son of Charanjit Singh, residents of village Valo in Bathinda district, said farmer leader Kaka Singh Kotra.

Earlier in the day, tear gas shells were used to disperse the farmers from Punjab and Haryana who resumed their protests against the Narendra Modi government on Minimum Support Price (MSP), media reports said.

The farmers, who had called off the protests briefly, resumed it, snubbing the government's offer to buy a few crops at the old MSP.

Just a couple of days ago, the government held a meeting with the protesting farmers' unions and came out with a plan involving the purchase of pulses, maize and cotton crops by government agencies at MSP.

The meeting was attended by protesting farmers, Union Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Arjun Munda and Minister of State for Home Affairs.