Man tries to set self afire at revenue minister’s bungalow in Mumbai, held

A man tried to allegedly set himself ablaze at the Royal Stone Bungalow, the official residence of Maharashtra revenue minister and senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat

A man tried to allegedly set himself ablaze at the Royal Stone Bungalow, the official residence of Maharashtra revenue minister and senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat.

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Police said the man, identified as Pandurang Wagh, is a resident of Ahmednagar district. He wanted a refund of the license fee, paid to the government for sand extraction.

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

After losing all hopes, Wagh then followed the matter with revenue authorities to get a refund of the license 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 not to repeat such act in future,” said RG Rajbhar, senior inspector of Gamdevi police station.