In a shocking incident in Uttar Pradesh, a man was allegedly set on fire following a heated argument over a malfunctioning handpump, highlighting the severity of village disputes.
The son of a village head in Uttar Pradesh's Bhadohi district allegedly set a watchman ablaze after pouring petrol on him, police said on Monday.
The watchman, Jaislal Saroj (55), works as a watchman, attached to the Gyanpur police station, was left with critically burn injuries, they said.
The accused has been arrested and the injured watchman has been referred to the Trauma Centre of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi, they said.
Superintendent of Police Abhimanyu Manglik said the incident took place on Monday morning in Peepur village under the Gyanpur police station area.
According to the SP, the incident began when Saroj went to the house of village head Ram Nath Yadav to inform him about a malfunctioning handpump in the village and asked him to replace its pipe.
"A verbal altercation broke out between them. Around 10 am, the village head's son Kamlesh Yadav (30) came there carrying a gallon of petrol, poured it on Saroj and set him on fire," Manglik said.
Seeing the watchman engulfed in flames, some villagers rushed to the spot and tried to extinguish the fire by covering him with blankets, he said.
However, by then Saroj had sustained burn injuries on more than 80 per cent of his body.
The injured watchman was immediately taken to the district hospital, from where he was referred to the BHU Trauma Centre in Varanasi in a critical condition, the SP said.
Manglik said a case has been registered based on a complaint filed by the victim's brother, Babulal Saroj.
The accused, Kamlesh Kumar Yadav, has been arrested and further investigation is underway to ascertain the exact reason behind the attack, police said.