FORMER BSF MAN ATTEMPTS IMMOLATION AT VIJAY CHOWK

NEW DELHI: A 39-year-old former Border Security Force (BSF) constable tried to set himself on fire at Vijay Chowk near Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday.

The man, constable Ashok Kumar, said he took the extreme step as he was wrongly dismissed from the force over a decade ago.

Around noon, Kumar reached Vijay Chowk and began pouring a canister of fuel on his body in public. He then tried to set himself on fire, the police said.

“Fortunately, we were able to overpower him. We escorted him away from the spot immediately,” said a senior police official. He was taken to a private hospital where he was discharged after a quick medical examination.

During questioning, the police said, Kumar claimed that he had tried to take his life because his dismissal from the paramilitary force in the year 2000 was wrong. He said he was asked to go because he was declared mentally unfit to serve in the force.

“He said that he had been dismissed just six years after being inducted in the force. We are in the process of verifying his claims,” the officer said. Kumar stays with his wife and three children in Kanjhawala in northwest Delhi.