Mumbai: A 35-year-old man hanged himself from a tree on Tuesday in support of the demand for reservation for Marathas in jobs and education, in the fifth suicide in Maharashtra linked to the campaign.

Eight other protesters attempted self-immolation as the campaign intensified.

Abhijeet Deshmukh, a resident of Veeda village in Beed district of Marathwada region, hanged himself from a tree near his house, police said.

"We found a suicide note in which Deshmukh mentioned that he is taking this extreme step in support of the Maratha reservation demand," Beed superintendent of police G. Shridhar said.

The suicide note also mentioned unemployment and an unpaid bank loan, a police official said.

In Mumbai on Wednesday, members of the Maratha community will hold a protest against the BJP-led state government's "failure" to withdraw criminal cases against the protesters.

In the self-immolation attempt, eight protesters poured kerosene on themselves and attempted suicide outside the tehsildar's office at Ausa in Latur district. But police intervened on time, Latur superintendent of police Shivaji Rathod said. PTI