Bhubaneswar, Jan. 20: A 40-year-old man was rushed to hospital in a critical condition after he set himself on fire to stall eviction by Khurda district authorities at Kudiary village near Jatni, 25km from here.

Sudarshan Sahu burst into flames even as the authorities were carrying out an eviction drive in the village to free land belonging to Puri Jagannath temple from encroachment.

Sahu operates a coal briquette manufacturing unit on encroached land.

Eyewitnesses said that when the demolition squad began its work, Sahu was inside the factory.

As the squad began demolishing the wall of the unit, he rushed out of the house, his clothes in flames.

Two police personnel accompanying the squad tried to douse the flames and, in the process, suffered minor injuries.

Sahu has suffered 70 to 80 per cent burn injuries. He was immediately rushed to the nearest district headquarters hospital and later shifted to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar.

The hospital later referred him to the plastic surgery unit of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.

Sources said Sahu, hailing from Sakhigopal of Puri district, was running his business illegally on the land belonging to the lord.

“He has taken a lot of money as loan to run his business. He was trying to stop the squad from demolishing his workshop, and that’s probably why he set himself on fire,” said an eyewitness.

Revenue divisional commissioner and chief temple administrator of Jagannath temple Arvind Padhee said it was an unfortunate incident. “We were informed about the incident and soon the person was rushed to the nearest hospital. On humanitarian grounds, the temple administration will bear all his medical expenses,” said Padhee.

In another development, a large number of people today staged a road blockade on Khurda-Pipili road for around half-an-hour opposing the eviction drive.

The agitators also pelted stones at the eviction team.

Despite this, the district administration managed to evict around 88 acres belonging to Lord Jagannath.

However, Padhee said the administration had never tried to demolish dwellings. “We do not have either any plan to demolish this coal unit or any dwelling. Poor and landless persons who have been living in the area for at least 12 years need to approach the temple administration through the district administration. In such cases, the temple administration can provide them with an alternative plot of maximum to 20 decimals,” said Padhee.