Alappuzha, Sep 18 (PTI) The opposition Congress on Monday attacked the ruling Left in Kerala over the suicide of a 87-year-old farmer near here allegedly due to financial and personal issues.

Rajappan, a Vandanam resident was found dead on Sunday, police said.

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"His son was diagnosed with cancer. His relatives said he was depressed over such issues," police said.

However, the Congress alleged that the state government's anti-farmer policies forced him to take the extreme step.

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Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan said the state government should "open its eyes" and save the agriculture sector.

KPCC president K Sudhakaran alleged that the government had failed to pay for the paddy procured from him.

"Rajappan was depressed after the government had failed to pay for the paddy procured from him. He was unable to continue with farming and the treatment for his son was also stopped," Sudhakaran alleged.

He urged the government to provide assistance to the family and a job to a kin.

Meanwhile, the government in a statement denied all the allegations by providing details of the cash transfers made to the deceased farmer's bank account.

"He had given 3,261 kg of paddy to the SupplyCo. As per the records, the pay order is dated May 22. All the farmers whose pay order is from May 17 and whose amount is less than Rs 50,000 have been made available to the bank account registered with the SupplyCo," the release said.

His son gave 1,944 kg of paddy to SupplyCo. An amount of Rs 15,396 including all state's share has been paid to the account registered, the district Paddy officer said in the release and added that the remaining Rs 39,658 has been credited.

The government also said that his family has clarified that the death of the farmer was not due to non-payment of the amount for the paddy procurement and the news being circulated in this manner is not true.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)