Amidst an ongoing agitation for a demand of 12 per cent quota under OBC category by Saini Samaj and blockade of the national highway number-21 in the Bharatpur district for the last five days, a man, said to be a farmer, allegedly committed suicide on Wednesday by hanging himself from a tree near the protest site.

The deceased was identified as Mohan Singh, 45, of Mali community, who hailed from Lalit Mudia village in the Bharatpur district, the Additional Superintendent of Police Raghuveer Singh Kavia, who is monitoring the agitation cum sit-in, told SNS when contacted.

The body of the deceased has been sent to the RBM Hospital for postmortem in the afternoon, the Addl SP said.

Thousands of protesters of Phuley Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti have been demanding a separate 12 per cent reservation from 21 per cent quota available for OBC and have blocked the Jaipur-Agra NH number 21 since April 21. The protesters included men, women and young boys and girls.

A number of rounds of talk were held between the Samiti representatives and the Bharatpur district administrations but to no avail as they were demanding the release of 14 Saini leaders, including its convenor Murari Lal Saini, who were booked by the police on the eve of their agitation.

After a settlement that they would clear the highway, 14 detained leaders were released yesterday after fruitful talks between the Samiti and Collector-Bharatpur.

A six-member delegation of Samiti led by Murari today met Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at CM-Residence in which the government decided to forward their demand to the Other Backward Class (OBC) commission for consideration and to conduct a census based on the particular caste in the entire Rajasthan.

Shocked by the alleged suicide of Mohan, the Samiti convenor tried to convince the protesters to call off the agitation after the government’s written assurance, but they all were adamant on their demand for a compensation of Rs 1 crore for the kin of the deceased, a martyr status to Mohan, and a government job to the dependent, the Additional SP said.

No untoward incident has happened near the protest site, and the situation is under control, he added.

Phule Samaj Samiti comprises Mali, Saini, Shakshya, Morya, and Kushwaha and has been demanding the Quota under OBC since 2019.