Home guard who set self on fire in Hyderabad dies: Police

The home guard from Chandrayangutta traffic police station in the old city took to the extreme step in protest against alleged the indifference of authorities in not paying him salary for the last two months

Hyderabad

Police said a 38-year-old home guard from Hyderabad, who allegedly attempted suicide by immolating himself on the evening of September 5, succumbed to burns at a private hospital on Friday. (HT Archives)

A 38-year-old home guard from Hyderabad, who allegedly attempted suicide by immolating himself on the evening of September 5, succumbed to burns at a private hospital on Friday, police said.

The home guard from Chandrayangutta traffic police station in the old city of Hyderabad took to the extreme step in protest against alleged the indifferent attitude of the authorities in not paying him salary for the last two months.

The home guard’s wife alleged that the assistant sub-inspector of police and another constable were responsible for the death of her husband. “The higher authorities should retrieve the footage of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera to find out what exactly happened on that day. The ASI and the constable should be arrested immediately,” she demanded, while speaking to reporters at the hospital.

The incident happened on September 5 when the home guard visited the office of the Home Guards Commandant at Goshamahal to represent to the higher-ups about non-payment of salary for the last two months, but he did not get a favourable response from them, another home guard familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.

“This led to an argument between him and the officials. He went out and returned with a bottle of petrol, doused himself with it and set himself ablaze. The other staff members in the office put out the fire and shifted him to Osmania General Hospital and from there to Apollo-DRDO Hospital at Kanchanbagh with 70% burn injuries. He succumbed to burns on Friday morning,” the home guard quoted above said.

Soon after the incident, hundreds of home guards assembled at the Osmania General Hospital mortuary, where the body was shifted for post-mortem and staged a demonstration in front of the hospital along with the victim’s family members, demanding justice.

The issue took a political turn with the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party activists joining the protest by the home guards and the victim’s family members. BJP state president and Union minister G Kishan Reddy said that the government should keep its word by making the posts of 20,000 home guards as permanent employees of the police force.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy also called on the home guard’s family members at the OGH mortuary. He described the death of the home guard as “official murder” and demanded that the government give a job to the kin of the deceased.

“The government should also pay an ex gratia of ₹25 lakh, assurance of free education to the sons of the home guard and regularisation of all the 20,000 home guards working under different police stations in the state,” Revanth Reddy said.

Meanwhile, a case of suspicious death was registered at Shah Inayat Gunj police station and investigation is going on, the police said.