BJP activist who set himself on fire four days ago succumbs

A 24-year-old BJP worker who set himself on fire outside the partys Telangana unit office here four days ago to protest the 'detention' of state party president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar recently, has succumbed to his injuries, sources said on Friday.

The man, who suffered severe burns in the incident on November 1, died on Thursday night while undergoing treatment at a private hospital here, BJP and hospital sources said.

The funeral of the party worker was held at his native village in neighbouring Ranga Reddy district which was attended by Sanjay Kumar and other BJP leaders,BJP sources said.

Expressing grief over the death of the activist, Sanjay Kumar said in a statement the former could not be saved though many efforts were made to save his life.

Appealing to party workers not to take the extreme step, Sanjay Kumar said nothing is achieved through suicides.

It onlycauses agony to parents, he said.

The party activists should keep up the fight and strive to herald in a "democratic Telangana", he said.

The BJP worker had set himself on fire on Sunday, police said.

On October 26, Sanjay Kumar was reportedly prevented by police from going to Dubbak after they had seized Rs 18.67 lakh cash from the house of a relative of M Raghunandan Rao,the BJP candidate in the recent Dubbak assembly constituency bypoll .

The BJP organised protests at many places in the state on Friday, claiming the TRS government should take responsibility for the death of its activist as he was anguished over the "harassment" of BJP cadre by filing police cases, according to state BJP General Secretary G Premender Reddy.