Ghaziabad: A 20-year-old man attempted to set himself on fire outside the Nehru Garden outpost in Khoda Colony after cops allegedly tried to force him to reach a compromise with three men who had attacked him earlier this week. He alleged that he had also been threatened by the cops and the men.The incident occurred on Wednesday evening. The man, Irfan, stepped out of the outpost, poured an inflammable substance on himself and set himself on fire. People present around the chowki tried to save him. The fire, however, spread over his torso before it was extinguished. He was taken to GTB Hospital in Delhi with serious burn injuries on both hands and his body.The events that led to this began two months ago. One Zaid Siddiqui rented a shop for his hardware business in Vandana Vihar where Irfan lives with his family. The shop belonged to Sherpal Yadav, one of the three men who attacked Irfan. Sherpal, Soni and Akash, who have a water supply business, got into a row with Siddiqui over parking a water tanker and tractor in front of his shop. People living in the vicinity also complained about the vehicles blocking their path.The three men held Siddiqui responsible for these complaints. They assaulted Siddiqui and locked up his shop. The residents and a group called Bharatiya Kisan Union (Gajay) protested against the assault in front of the police station. Irfan was at the protest and hence Sherpal Yadav and his men targeted him.On Sept 8, three men — Soni, Sherpal and one unidentified person — picked him up forcibly on a scooter. They took him to their water plant, assaulted him and left him unconscious. A neighbour found him lying there and informed his brother. They then took him to the police outpost where the cops allegedly refused to accept the complaint and drove them away from there.After they made multiple requests, the police allowed them to file a complaint but did not take any action. They allegedly told Irfan to get a medical examination done on his own but the hospital refused to do so because the police weren’t involved.On Wednesday evening, the cops at the outpost called him to settle the matter. The three men who attacked Irfan were allegedly present there. The cops, according to Irfan’s complaint, started pressuring him to reach a compromise with the men and threatened to kill him. Irfan came out of the outpost saying he would not die at their hands but would instead take his own life. Before anyone could intervene, he set himself on fire.ACP Amit Saxena said, “Based on the complaint filed, an FIR is being filed. We have detained a few people and are also investigating any negligence by those cops present at the outpost.”
