Man attempts to self-immolate outside Mantralaya in Mumbai

Security officials posted at the state secretariat’s main gate stopped the Dhule resident and handed him over to Marine Drive police station.

A 54-year-old man from Maharashtra’s Dhule district poured kerosene on himself and attempted self-immolation outside Mantralaya’s main gate on Monday.

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Security officials stopped Baban Yashwant Jhote, in the nick of time and handed him over to the Marine Drive police. “Jhote poured kerosene and was trying to set himself on fire when the security personnel outside Mantralaya stopped him,” said an official, requesting anonymity.

Jhote was an employee of Dhule Municipal Corporation and wants to be reinstated. He claimed that in 1989 backward class recruitment for the Dhule civic body, the local politicians used their influence to get jobs for people known to them. He said that despite giving interviews, he and the others did not get jobs.

According to the Chief Minister’s Office, Jhote had written to the chief minister demanding an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the 1989 backward class recruitment.

In March 1990, Jhote along with 33 others were given a temporary job in the civic body, the CMO said. The appointment was later cancelled by the divisional commissioner. Jhote and others moved court against the decision, and the Labour Court gave a verdict in Jhote’s favour. The Dhule civic body challenged the order in the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high court, which quashed the lower court’s decision, the CMO said. In a letter dated April 3, 2018, Jhote had threatened self-immolation in front of Mantralaya gate if the inquiry is not conducted, a clarification from CMO stated. After a series of suicide attempts in and around Mantralaya in the recent past,the state tightened security measures in the area.