Patna: Dashrath Bind, a 55-year-old farmer from Bhojpur who was apparently in distress after a hailstorm damaged his wheat and mango crop around a week ago, committed suicide on Sunday.

He was a resident of Jhakar Bindgama village under Barhara block of Bhojpur district, around 75km west of Patna.

His family members said he had bought a mango orchard after borrowing money from villagers and was hoping to reap a profit from the harvest, which would have enabled him to start repaying the loan. However, the hailstorm and thunder shower destroyed the crop. His body was found hanging from a mango tree in the same orchard.

"For the past few days my son was under stress because of the crop damage. We used to console him but he was constantly fretting. He had his dinner last night with us. We went off to sleep. Later, his body was found," said Bind's father, Bhuvaneshwar.

Police have taken the body for post-mortem. Bhojpur district magistrate (DM) Sanjeev Kumar said: "Crop damage is not the only reason behind Bind's suicide. He also had a dispute with his son. The hailstorm in Bhojpur was not severe and did not cause so much damage that could have led him to suicide."

The DM has set up a team, which includes the district agriculture officer and the block development officer, to investigate the suicide.