Jammu and Kashmir police are facing outrage after a video showed them offering no help to a man engulfed in flames and running on the roof of an under-construction building following a self-immolation bid to protest against an administrative action.

Aamir Hamid Shah, 27, set himself ablaze to prevent civic officials accompanied by police from demolishing the structure being constructed on the banks of the Sindh in Ganderbal district.

The police claimed to have rescued the youth but a video showed two local residents rushing to douse the flames while a cop armed with an AK 47 rifle, instead of making any intervention, walks a few steps to pick up a stick lying on the ground, apparently fearing a law and order situation. Some other policemen kept watching from a distance.

The police urged the “media fraternity” and “general public” not to circulate the video of the “unfortunate incident”, calling it “too graphic for the common people”. However, it was widely circulated on social media.

A police spokesman said Aamir had suffered burns and was shifted to a hospital.

Hospital sources said he was battling for his life.

The 28-second footage does not show how he set himself ablaze but shows him fighting the flames as he desperately moves from one edge of the roof to another. At one point, he removes his sweater to save himself. The video ends as two persons try to cover him with a tarpaulin sheet.

The police spokesman said a demolition drive was undertaken by the irrigation and flood control department on the banks of the Sindh.

“One person identified as Amir Hamid Shah… of Harran in Ganderbal suddenly appeared from behind the illegal structure and self-immolated on its roof in protest against the demolition of the illegal structure,” he said. “The person was, however, rescued by SHO Ganderbal and local residents. However, he received burn injuries before the flames were doused and he was shifted to a hospital.”

The police said the owners had dug a deep trench near the structure to “prevent any ingress, which prevented a prompt rescue”.

“Police have rendered all help and support in the hospitalisation and assured (Amir’s) family members of best medical treatment. One police team is there in the hospital and facilitating his treatment,” he said.

However, the police’s response to the tragic incident evoked strong condemnation on social media.

“@JmuKmrPolice shame on your officers, they are watching this episode!! Can't they save this young man!,” tweeted Sanjay Koul, a social media user.

CPM veteran Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami asked why authorities took no action when the building was constructed.

“Reports suggest that the land where the building has been constructed is under the cultivation of family for decades and the youth who is educated and unemployed was planning to start his own business,” Tarigami said in a statement.

“When they constructed the building, nobody objected. And now that they have completed the construction, a crew comprising police and officials from the irrigation and flood control department arrived to tear down his newly constructed building. Images and video of the demolition drive have triggered anxiety among the people over the government's new land policies,” he added.

Illegal constructions are common in Kashmir but officials are often accused of turning a blind eye to them in lieu of money.