By IANS,
Hyderabad : A special police officer (SPO), who was injured when protesters tried to set afire the Congress party office here last week, succumbed to burns Wednesday, police said.
The police said Sambasiva Raju died at a private hospital after battling for life for five days, taking the toll in the Feb 28 incident to two.
He was among five people who were injured when activists of Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti (MRPS) made an abortive bid to set afire Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of the ruling Congress party.
The SPO suffered third degree burns when he tried to prevent the protesters from setting afire office records and furniture.
Three MPRS activists also sustained injuries in the incident and one of them Surendra Madiga died Sunday. The condition of two other injured is stated to be critical.
The incident took place when Congress president Sonia Gandhi was addressing a public meeting in the city.
MRPS, which represents Madigas, a backward class, had long been demanding categorisation of backward classes so that they enjoy the benefits of reservations in proportion to their population.
MRPS has blamed the Congress party for the Feb 28 incident and has warned that it would have to pay a heavy price in the next month’s general elections.