UP man immolates himself to implicate neighbour

Rae Bareli, Oct 24 (IANS) A man in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli died of burns after he tried to immolate himself in an attempt to implicate his neighbour for the criminal offence.

The incident took place on Monday.

Police said that to implicate his neighbours, the man, Anil Kumar Pandey, 38, poured petrol on himself in front of their house and planned to only set his feet on fire so that the locals could save him in time.

However, the plan went wrong and he suffered severe burns as other residents could not rescue him in time.

He was rushed to the King George’s Medical University (KGMU) in Lucknow where he succumbed to burns later in the evening.

Superintendent of Police, Rae Bareli, Alok Priyadarshi said that it all started on October 20, when Anil’s wife Annu, 35, visited a Durga puja pandal without informing him.

“The couple had a fight that day and the neighbours had to intervene and pacify them. Next day when Anil went out for work, Annu visited her neighbour Reema, 27, who works as a peon in the district court,” he added.

“Annu was frequently thrashed by her husband and Reema advised her to take up the issue with her parents and family,” said SHO, Kotwali, R.K. Singh.

On Reema’s advice, Annu went to her home on October 21 evening.

When Anil came to know that Reema was behind all this, he decided to teach her a lesson.

“Anil purchased petrol and poured it on himself to implicate Reema in a fake case of immolation,” the SHO said, adding that CCTV footage of the petrol pump showed that Anil had purchased petrol in a container.

Police are questioning Reema and Anil’s wife.

Anil worked in a general store and his father Ramesh Pandey retired as a veterinary doctor.

–IANS

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