BATHINDA: The death toll from the bus accident involving farmer activists rose to four after 66-year-old Basant Singh Kothaguru succumbed to his injuries at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bathinda on Tuesday morning.
Basant Singh, Vice President of the Bathinda district unit of the farmer organisation BKU Ekta Ugrahan, was travelling with 53 other activists from Kothaguru village to Tohana in Haryana to attend the Kisan Mahapanchayat on January 4.
The bus overturned at Barnala, resulting in the deaths of three women activists—Jasbir Kaur, Sarabjit Kaur, and Balbir Kaur. Nearly a dozen others were injured, five of them seriously. Basant Singh sustained severe spinal injuries and was referred to AIIMS.
The farmer organisation BKU Ekta Ugrahan has demanded Rs 10 lakh compensation for each victim, along with a government job for the next of kin of the deceased. They have refused to perform the last rites until their demands are met.
However, two families have already performed the last rites of the deceased. One victim’s body remains at the Barnala Civil Hospital mortuary, while Basant Singh’s body is at the AIIMS mortuary.
“The farmer organisation will continue to press the government for compensation,” said BKU Ekta Ugrahan State Secretary Shingara Singh Mann.
