A man on Wednesday set himself afire near the Parliament in Delhi. He was immediately rushed to the RML hospital after he sustained severe injuries. The police have started an investigation into the matter.

The area where the man attempted to set himself on fire has been cordoned off. A forensic team is also present at the spot to investigate which substance he doused on himself before setting himself on fire.

Delhi Police stated that the man has been identified as Jitendra from Uttar Pradesh’s Bagpat. They said the reason behind the suicide attempt seems to be related to personal enmity in Bagpat. The exact reason will be unearthed only after the investigation.

“Today one person probably Jitendra of Uttar Pradesh’s Bagpat set himself on fire in roundabout rail Bhavan. The local police and railway police along with some civil persons immediately extinguished the fire and the person was sent to hospital. The issue as we can decipher is probably related and personal enmity in Bagpat. Further investigation is on,” Delhi Police said.

“The local police, railway police, and some civilians quickly managed to extinguish the flames, and the man was sent to the hospital. Preliminary findings suggest the incident may be linked to personal enmity in Bagpat. Further investigations are ongoing,” the police statement said.

In another similar incident, a man from Rohini set himself on fire outside the Transport Bhawan near the Parliament in April, 2023. The man was reportedly raising slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in support of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

He had lost his job during the lockdown imposed during the pandemic. He doused himself with an inflammable liquid as he shouted slogans and set himself afire. He was rescued immediately by police personnel in the area and taken to a nearby hospital. The man had sustained 50 per cent burns in the incident, according to reports.

In an unfortunate incident, a roadways bus fell into a 100-metre deep gorge in Bhimtal area of Uttarakhand’s Nainital district on Wednesday, leaving several people injured. Officials stated that the bus belongs to Roadways and was going from Bhimtal to Haldwani with 20-25 people travelling on it.

Reports stated that the State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) personnel carried out rescue operations at the accident site. SSP Nainital Prahlad Meena said that information was received from the District Control Room, Nainital that a roadways bus has crashed near Bhimtal, on which the rescue teams of SDRF have left for the spot from Post Nainital and Khairna.

Notably, the accident in Bhimtal happened a day after an Army vehicle fell into a gorge in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, killing five soldiers. A defence spokesperson said that the cause of the accident is being ascertained but possibly, the driver lost control at the turn of the road. The accident took place in the Gharoa area when a convoy of six vehicles was en route from Nilam Headquarters to Balnoi Ghora Post.

The officials said that rescue teams have recovered five bodies from the gorge which is 300-350 feet deep. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed his deep sorrow over the incident near the forward post along the Line of Control (LoC). He also extended deepest sympathies to the bereaved families of the soldiers.

Meanwhile, the Army ruled out terrorism angle in the incident. They said that a terrorist initiated incident positively ruled out after confirming from ground sources. They added that their own post was approximately 130 m from the incident site and the backup vehicle was barely 40 meters away.

Furthermore, the Northern Command, also called the Dhruva Command, said Lieutenant General M V Suchindra Kumar and all ranks extend their deepest condolences on the tragic loss of five brave soldiers.

The Congress on Wednesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for laying the foundation stone of the Ken-Betwa River Linking Project, asserting that it highlights the disparity between his environmental promises and actions, as the project threatens the Panna Tiger Reserve. This project, the first initiative under the national river interlinking policy, was inaugurated in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh.

Jairam Ramesh, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, remarked, “Today, the Prime Minister is providing further evidence of the gap between his ‘talk’ and ‘walk’ regarding environmental and forest issues. The Ken-Betwa river linking project, for which he is laying the foundation stone today, poses a significant threat to the biodiversity-rich Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh.”

He emphasised the success of Panna’s tiger revival, noting that by early 2009, the area’s tiger population had been entirely eradicated. However, thanks to a pioneering tiger reintroduction program initiated 15 years ago, Panna now boasts a population of over 90 tigers, including cubs and sub-adults, while also supporting sustainable tourism-based livelihoods.

Ramesh highlighted that the project would inundate more than 10% of the core area of the tiger reserve. He warned, “Not only will vital tiger habitats be affected, but those of other species, including vultures, will also be lost. The ecosystem will be fragmented, requiring the felling of over 23 lakh trees. Construction activities will cause significant disturbances.”

Furthermore, he mentioned that plans for three cement factories are underway, with one already established near the park, raising concerns regarding the underlying assumptions about water surplus. “It is unfortunate that there are alternatives for executing the project—such as placing the dam upstream—that would avoid such substantial ecological harm,” the Congress leader stated.

The project will involve the construction of a 77-meter-high, 2.13-kilometer-long Daudhan dam and two tunnels (one measuring 1.9 km and the other 1.1 km) on the Ken River within the Panna Tiger Reserve.