A bid to immolate self by a Balia native farmer inside the premises of Gorakhnath temple when mahant (head priest) of temple and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister was inside the temple threw the Gorakhpur police in tizzy. The news soon went viral on social media exposing chinks in security cordon of the CM.
As per reports, thousands of people from Gorakhpur and neighbouring districts thronged to the temple when they heard the news of arrival of CM Adityanath Yogi to plea their cases. Among the crowd of petitioners, one Raj Kumar Bharti of Rajput Mewari ward number 14 of Balia was also present as he had to seek help from the CM for waiver off his loan. Sources said that during the janta Darbar program in temple premises, Raj Kumar Bharati doused self with Kerosene after he failed to get audience from CM. But before he could lit fire, alert cops overpowered him and foiled his immolation bid. “The police recovered a letter from Bharati’s pocket in which he had stated his hardship and loan on him. He also had stated that he was under huge debt due to his prolonged illness and failed to get help from the district administration,’ the sources said.
SSP Gorakhpur Ram lal Verma said Ram lal Bharti took the extreme step due to personal problem. “He told to the police in interrogation that he had personal problem and he was in depression,’ the SSP said while referring the findings of the interrogation. He said the man was given counseling by a team of experts. “His family had been called and he will be handed over to them under their custody. The police had written the district administration to solve his case,’ he said. The incident exposed the laxity on police part in ensuring security for the CM. “The man had a bottle filled with Kerosene. He told to police that he was carrying the same when he entered the premises. This meant that the cops did not do frisking of those going to meet the CM.” the sources said.