Jaipur: Illegal stone mining sparked protests in the Deeg area of Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district on Wednesday when a seer set himself afire, the police said. It happened after another seer climbed atop a mobile tower on Tuesday demanding a ban on it. The seer who sustained severe burns was sent to Jaipur in a critical condition.
According to station house officer of Khoh police station Vinod Kumar, a sadhu, Vijay Das, who was standing near the protest site set himself afire. A police team put rags on him to douse the fire, but he sustained 80 percent of burns. He was rushed to Bharatpur district hospital from where he was referred to Jaipur, Kumar said.
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Nevertheless, the seer who climbed atop mobile threatening to commit suicide came down after the administration held talks with the protesters, the police further said. Meanwhile, the authorities extended the suspension of mobile internet services by a day till Thursday as a precautionary measure. Bharatpur Divisional Commissioner Sanwarmal Verma said the suspension of mobile internet services had been extended by one more day.
On Tuesday, a high-voltage drama was witnessed when a seer Narayan Das climbed atop the mobile tower demanding a ban on stone mining. Das along with some other seers had been holding a protest for the past few days. Their demand was to put a ban on mining.
