Mumbai: Man tries to set himself ablaze at Maharashtra minister Balasaheb Thorat's bungalow

Photo for representational purpose

A man allegedly attempted to set himself ablaze at the official residence of Maharashtra revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat on Tuesday.

The man, identified as Pandurang Wagh, is a resident of Ahmednagar district, said police. He took the step as he didn't get the refund of licence fee paid to the government for sand extraction, stated a report in Hindustan Times.

According to the police, Wagh had obtained a licence from the government in 2018 for sand mining and transportation for Rs 8.72 lakh. He had started the sand excavation but had to stop it because of opposition by the locals. Due to the frequent protests by villagers, Wagh suffered huge losses.

Wagh then approached revenue authorities to get a refund of the licence fee paid by him. But his efforts did not yield any results. Hence, he decided to end his life at the minister's bungalow.

"On Tuesday, he poured petrol on himself and tried to set himself ablaze in the hall of special executive officer of Royal Stone, the official residence of revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat," said a police officer.

However, the policemen present around stopped him.

"Wagh was detained and taken to the police station. We arrested him under section 309 (Attempt to commit suicide) of Indian Penal Code and released him on bail with a warning to," said RG Rajbhar, senior inspector of Gamdevi police station.