Shubhkaran Singh, the protesting farmer who lost his life in a clash with the Haryana Police in Khanauri last week, succumbed to a gunshot wound to the head, as revealed by the post-mortem examination report of the 21-year-old. The examination also identified the presence of "foreign bodies" in his head.
A CT scan carried out prior to the autopsy revealed the presence of numerous metal pellets in his head.
Medico-legal reports from hospitals in Patiala, issued last week, indicated that several protesting farmers, injured during police actions, exhibited wounds inflicted by metal pellets on their upper bodies.
According to the Hindustan Times report, the examination conducted on Wednesday identified an injury mark in the occipital region (the rearmost part of the skull) and confirmed the absence of any other injury marks on his body.
The examining doctors stated that they have delivered the report to the Patiala police and decided not to disclose further details.
Reportedly, people who are familiar with the situation mentioned that the metal pellets discovered in Singh's skull were also provided to the police.
They added that these pellets might be forwarded to ballistics experts to determine the type of firearm used.
Shubhkaran Singh was cremated on Thursday.
Initially after Singh's death, protesting farmers and his family resisted authorities' attempts to carry out a post-mortem examination.
They insisted on filing a murder case against police personnel responsible for his death and sought "martyr status" for the victim.
According to Yashpal Sharma, a sub-inspector with the Punjab Police who is investigating the case, he has not yet received the post-mortem report at the time of press.
Suresh Kumar, the station house officer of Garhi police station in Haryana, also stated that they have not received the post-mortem report and therefore cannot provide any comments on it.
For more than two weeks, thousands of farmers have been stationed at the Punjab-Haryana borders, urging the central government to implement a law ensuring Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops.
