UP govt employee immolates self after boss asks him to send his 'wife for a night' for transfer

In a shocking incident, an Uttar Pradesh Power department employee, who had sought transfer, committed self-immolation in the state's Lakhimpur Kheri district after his boss allegedly asked him to send his ''wife for a night'' if he wanted a change in his posting.

The employee, identified as Gokul Yadav — who worked as a lineman — poured diesel on himself and set himself on fire at his residence in Pallia town in the district on Saturday. Gokul, who suffered third degree burns, was rushed to a hospital in Lucknow where he succumbed to his injuries on Sunday evening, according to police sources.

In his dying declaration, Gokul allegedly said that his boss, a junior engineer (JE), had asked him to 'send' his (Gokul's) wife to him and his friends for a night and after that, he would be transferred to his place of choice.

A video containing the purported declaration by Gokul went viral on social media. In the video, Gokul, who appeared to be in acute pain, was heard narrating the sequence of events. His wife also corroborated the charge.

According to the sources, Gokul was posted at Aliganj, which was about 50 kilometres from his hometown of Pallia and had asked his boss to transfer him to a place near his hometown.

Sources said that the lineman had also approached the cops with a complaint against the junior engineer but no action was taken by them.

Officials in Lakhimpur Kheri said that the JE, identified as Nagendra Umar and another employee of the department were suspended and a departmental probe was also launched against them. The police have also lodged a case in this regard and were investigating the matter.

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