Bhubaneswar, Feb. 4: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today ordered the administration to start criminal proceedings against former secretary of Sujanpur Service Cooperative Society following the suicide of a farmer on the co-operative society premises in Jajpur.

Nabaghan Sahu, a 63-year-old farmer from Raghunathpur in Jajpur, consumed poison on January 30 night.

He reportedly took his life after he was “threatened” with legal action if he failed to repay an allegedly fake loan of Rs 4,250.

In this regard, Naveen has also asked the agriculture production commissioner, S.P. Nanda, to conduct a probe into the loans sanctioned from the co-operative society while the former secretary was in the office.

Nanda has been asked to submit a report within the month.

The government has also stated that any form of issuance of demand notice for recovery of loans, from that particular co-operative society, would be suspended till the inquiry is over, according to the directions of the chief minister. All the action was taken on the basis of a report submitted by Jajpur district collector on the incident, which sparked off an uproar in Orissa.

Sahu’s death is the third incident in 2008 when a farmer committed suicide allegedly after he was threatened after he failed to repay a fake loan. While the co-operative claimed Nabaghan had taken a loan of Rs 4,250 some 14 years ago and needed to pay double that amount, his family, however, said there was no outstanding loan in his name.

Sarat, the deceased’s son, claimed that his father had paid back Rs 1,800 he had availed from the co-operative. “He had been to the co-operative society office to ask them why was he being asked to pay again. But he never returned,” he said.