A shopkeeper tried to immolate himself on the outskirts of Patna on Thursday, in presence of a posse of police and Railway Protection Force personnel who were trying to remove encroachments in the area, a senior official said.
According to District Magistrate, Patna, Chandrashekhar Singh, the incident took place in Gulzarbagh locality where Railways had sought help for removing encroachments.
"Accordingly, officials of local administration and local police station had accompanied the RPF personnel who were to evict the encroachers", the DM told PTI.
This was met with resistance from some of the locals, one of whom rushed into his shop nearby and lit a fire after pouring paint thinner on himself.
"The flames were doused quickly but the man suffered grievous burn injuries and was rushed to a hospital. His condition is critical. Further investigations are on", added the DM.
Additional Superintendent of Police (City) Amit Ranjan said "some of the security personnel and a bystander also suffered injuries while trying to extinguish the fire".
Chief Public Relations Officer of East Central Railway zone Virendra Kumar also confirmed that help had been sought from the district administration for removing the encroachments.