The crowd, including several journalists, kept asking the police officials stationed there to bring the man down but cops were acting like mute spectators. A police officer was heard saying, “Marne do s**le ko (Let him die).”

New Delhi: Gajendra Singh’s life could have been saved, but he was allowed to die. Eyewitnesses say as Gajendra, the farmer from Dausa in Rajashthan, climbed up the tree at Jantar Mantar and seated himself on a branch, there was no serious effort to coax him to come down, neither from AAP leaders nor from the policemen present.

The incident took place in heavy police presence and in full public view at around 2 pm. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and other senior leaders of the Aam Aadmi party were present on the stage when he killed himself.

Here’s the reporter’s version of how the entire events unfolded:

Gajendra, donning a multi-coloured turban and carrying a broom in his hand, climbed the tree at around 1 pm and started raising slogans against the Narendra Modi government. People present there thought that he wanted to grab media attention or get a better view of the stage.

After sometime, he tied a white cloth he was carrying around his neck. His both arms were wrapped around a branch of the tree. He was fine till he reclined on another branch for support. Then he let go.

The crowd, including several journalists, kept asking the police officials stationed there to bring the man down but cops were acting like mute spectators. A police officer was heard saying, “Marne do s**le ko (Let him die).”

Angry at the police’s inaction, people started shouting and raising slogans. When it was noticed that one his legs were hanging in the air and his tongue had come out, AAP leader Kumar Vishwas took the mic from journalist-turned-politician Ashish Khetan who was addressing the gathering and urged the man to come down. Vishwas also assured the man that he could meet the chief minister if he wanted. But the man was motionless. Then agitated Vishwas asked the police to do their job.

“Aap apna kaam kyun nahin kar rahe hain (Why are you not doing your work?),” angry Vishwas told police but there was no response. Finally, five people, one of them was wearing the AAP cap, climbed the tree, tore the cloth around his neck, and tried to bring him down. They dragged him to a point but had to drop him down because he was bulky.

People sitting under the tree gathered and caught hold of him. Ironically, a fire tender was standing few meters away from the stop. The police could have used it to bring the man down.

Angry people started shouting slogans against the Delhi Police, which resulted in small skirmishes and pushing and shoving. The brutal face of the Delhi cops once again came to the fore. Instead of using ambulances parked there, they literally dragged the man inside a PCR van to take his body to the hospital. He was declared brought dead at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. His body was sent to Lady Hardinge Hospital for post-mortem.

When the man’s body was brought down and taken away, the AAP should have called off the rally but the leaders chose to continue resume their address.

All allegations are wrong, police took various steps, says a top cop

Defending the policemen on the site, Joint CP MK Meena debunked the charges of police inaction. “All allegation are wrong. The police did take various steps,” he told reporters adding that “enquiry is on. When the farmer climbed the tree, some other people also went behind him, a series of events took place. We are looking into it”. Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi has ordered probe into the incident. The investigation will be headed by a joint commissioner of police.

Why did Gajendra Singh take the extreme step?

In a suicide note Singh reportedly threw from the tree before hanging himself to death, he talked about his problem. “I was thrown out of house by my father because my crops were destroyed. I have three children,” he wrote. Before signing off the note with the slogan ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan,’ Singh asks how he should go home.