The incident took place at the tehsildar's office in Manvat sub-district and the Maharashtra Opposition demanded a probe.
Hailing from Manoli village, the four -- Laxman Shinde, Datta Kadam, Shagir Sheikh and Chandrakant Talekar -- had submitted a petition on their demands more than a week ago and threatened that if these were not redressed, they would resort to the extreme action of "mass suicide".
They were immediately taken to a hospital in Parbhani and are now out of danger, said Collector P. Siva Sankar.
He said the main demand of the village pertains to water supply which is being handled by the Maharashtra Jal Pradhikaran (MJP) under a regional supply scheme for eight villages implemented from 2015.
"However, since over a year, the villagers have not paid their water taxes amounting to around Rs 1.1 million and hence water supply was stopped by the MJP. But we have made alternative temporary arrangements till the issue is sorted out," Sankar told IANS.
Besides, he said the villagers had made certain allegations about some bogus minor irrigation projects in the region, which is now being investigated by the authorities.
Taking note of the developments, Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde demanded an inquiry into the incident and immediate suspension of the revenue officials concerned.
"This happened on a day when Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis along with Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari was touring the (Parbhani) district.
"The villagers had submitted their memorandum of demands more than a week ago but the officials did nothing to redress their grievances," said Munde, who is from the Nationalist Congress Party.
He alleged that while the government lays down the red carpet for industrialists and businessmen, it ignores the plight of the poor farmers and villagers who are compelled to resort to such measures to secure justice.
Meanwhile, of the four villagers, Shinde, Kadam and Sheikh were discharged, while Talekar was under observation.
(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
