A youth belonging to the minority community, aggrieved by the alleged police inaction in his brother’s murder, tried to immolate himself in Bihar’s Sitamarhi district during chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Samadhan Yatra on Friday.

This is the second day of Nitish’s statewide yatra and the incident occurred when he reached Sitamarhi collectorate to chair a review meeting of the implementation of development and welfare schemes in Sitamarhi and Sheohar districts.

The youth, identified as Aftab Alam, was carrying kerosene and tried to set himself on fire while Nitish was entering the collectorate. Aftab was quickly grabbed by the security personnel. “Mere bhai ka murder hua hai (My brother was killed),” Aftab shouted as was being led away.

“The young man was carrying kerosene and threatened to immolate himself. Cops, who were present there to cordon off people during the chief minister’s visit, nabbed him. He was aggrieved about inaction in a criminal case. He is safe, but has been arrested for attempting to commit suicide,” Sitamarhi superintendent of police Har Kishore Rai said.

Sources said Aftab’s brother Jehangir Alam died under mysterious circumstances in 2021. His family members alleged that he was murdered, but the police said he died in an accident and shelved the case.