A Technical Assistant of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Nirmal District suffered burn injuries on Tuesday, July 13 after a sarpanch allegedly set him ablaze over the issue of pending bills, according to the police. The sarpanch has been identified as Sanvli village sarpanch L Sainath and the technical assistant identified as Raju.

 

The incident occurred in the office premises of MGNREGA at Sanvli village, under Kubheer Mandal in Nirmal district around 4.30 pm. The sarpanch went inside the office and after an argument between him and the technical assistant, who has a disability, the sarpanch allegedly poured petrol on the table and on the Technical Assistant and lit them using match sticks, as per the preliminary investigation, according to the PTI.

 

Some employees managed to rescue Raju by putting out the flames. They then shifted him to a government hospital in Bhainsa town. Some documents in the office were also burnt in the incident.

 

The Technical Assistant has suffered around 25 to 50% burn injuries, the official said, adding that the sarpanch has been taken into custody and is being questioned. 

 

As per available information, an altercation took place between the sarpanch and the Technical Assistant over the issue of ‘long pending’ bills regarding work taken up under MGNREGA, the official added.

 

Meanwhile, on June 29, a man allegedly poured diesel on a Tahsildar during a protest held by a group of farmers and others in Telangana's Medak district, after dousing himself with fuel.

 

In November 2019, a man brutally murdered a woman Tahsildar by setting her ablaze in her office at Abdullapurmet near here over some land dispute.

 

Subsequently, the driver of the Tahsildar, who suffered burns in a bid to stop the assailant from setting her ablaze died, and later the accused, who also severely suffered burns in the incident, succumbed to his injuries.

 

(With inputs from PTI and IANS)