By IANS,
Srinagar: A local travel agent tried to set himself and four other family members afire here Friday, claiming he had no means to sustain himself and his family.
Local press photographers had a tough time dousing the flames after Tariq Ahmad Rather, 35, tried to set himself, his wife, two sons and mother ablaze at the Press Enclave here.
“I have been driven to the wall. I have nothing to support my wife, mother and two sons. I had a shop in Lal Chowk from where I carried on a travel agent’s business for the last 15 years. I was evicted by the government and given alternative accommodation inside the tourist reception centre in the city but travel agents there did not allow me to enter there. I have been starving since then,” Rather said before trying to immolate himself and his family.
Immediately after the local photographers doused the flames, police arrived on the spot and arrested the five.