Man sets self on fire, critical

A 50-year-old who accused a Samajwadi Party leader of cheating him of huge sums of money was in critical condition on Monday after setting himself on fire here, police said.

Ajay Gupta sprinkled kerosene on himself in the Mathura Collectorate and set fire to his clothes as hundreds of people watched in horror.

The man was rushed to the Swarn Jayanti Hospital and then to Agra's S.N. Medical College where doctors said he had suffered 90 percent burns.

Additional District Magistrate Ajai Kumar Awasthi told IANS that Gupta, from Bareilly, was depressed after failing to get action initiated against a person for alleged cheating.

His advocate Devendra Pal Singh said a Samajwadi Party politician had snatched his money which Gupta got by selling his house, tortured him and held him hostage for months.

The refusal to act on his complaint frustrated the man, who eventually became a beggar to keep himself alive.

"He was left with no option other than try to take his own life. He was forced to beg as he did not have money to even get the legal documents typed," the advocate said.