Odisha: Man who set himself on fire near Ganjam SP’s office dies in Berhampur

BERHAMPUR: A 28-year-old man, who attempted self-immolation near the office of the Ganjam SP at Chhatrapur on Saturday, succumbed to his injuries early on Sunday.
Badal Sahu of Borigaon village in the district suffered 80% burn injuries and died during treatment at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar.
Ganjam SP Brijesh Rai has directed an additional SP to conduct an inquiry to ascertain what led the deceased to attempt self-immolation. “The exact cause will be known only after a thorough investigation,” he added.
Sahu had poured petrol from a container and set himself on fire near the SP’s office on Saturday afternoon. Police personnel present near the gate had immediately wrapped him in bedsheets to douse the fire and rushed him to the sub-divisional hospital in Chhatrapur and then to the MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur. He was shifted to the private hospital in Bhubaneswar when his condition deteriorated, police said.
Though the exact cause behind Sahu taking the extreme step was under investigation, the police said at least two cases were pending against Sahu — one filed by his sister over a property dispute and another by a villager for abusing villagers. Sahu had also filed a case against the villagers alleging that they had ostracised his family and had been harassing them for the past few years.
Sources said he had met police officers several times before the incident. He might have attempted self-immolation as he failed to get justice from the police, alleged one of his relatives. It was the third such incident in Ganjam district in the last two years. Meenakshi Mishra, a BJD leader, had died of burns after attempting self-immolation on the SP’s office premises in February 2020.
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