Chennai: Youth sets himself ablaze before govt officers, dies
He was angered over govt taking over land in his family's possession.
Krishnagiri: Angered over government taking over a piece of government land which was in his family’s possession for many decades, a youth self immolated himself in the presence of government officers in Dharmapuri district.
On Wednesday, the Pennagaram tahsildar Sethulingam and others went to uphill Mallaiyoor village in Pennagaram taluk in Dharmapuri to take over the government land in possession of 55-year-old Gopal for many decades.
The proposal for taking over the land was approv-ed by the district administration to provide a burial ground facility, a lon-g-pending demand of the local villagers.
Gopal and his relatives on seeing the officials coming towards the land with JCB machines created a ruckus with an intention to prevent the officials from performing their duties.
Meanwhile, his 25-year-old elder son Durai came to the spot with a plastic can filled with kerosene and set himself ablaze.
The government officials later saved Durai by putting off the fire. He was taken to the Pennagaram government hospital.
Later, Durai was shifted to a private hospital in Bengaluru, where he died in early hours of Thursday.