A man set himself on fire and grabbed hold of a politician during the live recording of a television news debate in a local district, thereby creating chaos in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh. The politician was also severely burned during the incident. While the assailant died due to the injuries he sustained, the victim has been hospitalized and remains in critical condition.


On the evening of April 28, India's state-owned national television channel, Doordarshan was recording an election show in a local park in Sultanpur, a town located about 100 miles from the city of Lucknow. According to a police statement, a man identified as Durgesh Kumar Singh emerged from a crowd of spectators, set himself ablaze with gasoline, and threw himself on Kamruzzama Fauji, a local politician from the Bahujan Samaj Party, a national political party.

"People were just too shocked to know what was happening," local photographer Pankaj Kumar Gupta said.

Both men were taken to a city hospital. Singh died Tuesday night and Fauji remains in critical condition, with 80 percent burns, police said.