Mumbai: A potentially tragic incident was averted on Wednesday afternoon when a man attempted to set himself on fire outside Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ official residence, Varsha Bungalow, in Malabar Hill. The police acted swiftly and detained the man before any harm could be done.

The man has been identified as Ajit Ramkrishna Mendargi, a resident of Solapur. According to Malabar Hill police officials, Mendargi was carrying 100 millilitres of petrol and a lighter in his possession at the time of detention.

Sources in Malabar Hill police revealed that they received a confidential alert from Solapur’s Faujdar Chavadi police station earlier in the day, warning that Mendargi might attempt self-immolation in the high-security Malabar Hill area. Taking the information seriously, officers deployed two watchmen to discreetly monitor Mendargi’s movements.

At around 3:20 to 3:40 PM, Mendargi was spotted arriving in the area by taxi. Before he could act on his intent, officers intercepted him and brought him to the police station. Upon checking his bag, they recovered a small container of petrol and a lighter.

The police registered a case under Section 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), pertaining to endangering personal or public safety. After initial questioning, Mendargi was issued a notice and sent back to his native place in Solapur under police supervision.

The motive behind his extreme step is still unclear, and police say they are conducting further investigation to understand the circumstances that led to the attempted self-immolation. Officials commended the timely coordination and alertness of the teams involved for preventing a major incident.