Man suffers cardiac arrest in queue to get subsidised onion

With the onion prices touching Rs 180 per kilo in retail market, people have been making a beeline to the Rythu Bazaars where the government is selling onions at a subsidised price of Rs 25 per kilo.

VIJAYAWADA: The clamour to get a kilo of onion sold at subsidised rates at Rythu Bazaars claimed the life of a 55-year person in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh on Monday morning.

With the onion prices touching Rs 180 per kilo in retail market, people have been making a beeline to the Rythu Bazaars where the government is selling onions at a subsidised price of Rs 25 per kilo. An individual is given only one kilo of onion on producing Aadhaar card.

This, however, is not stopping people to stand in lines from 5 am itself at the Rythu Bazaars across the state. 55-year-old Sambaiah was among the hundreds who stood in queue sine early morning and was waiting for his turn when he reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed. Locals shifted him to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead.

Meanwhile, people continue to wait for hours together to get a kg of onion in front of Rythu Bazaars across the State. Agitated people are resorting to protests forcing the authorities to sell onions with police protection.