Sadhu who set himself on fire in Rajasthan's Deeg now stable

Image of the site of incident

The health of Sadhu Vijay Das who attempted self-immolation yesterday, in Rajasthan's Bharatpur district against illegal mining, is now stable.

"Sadhu Vijay Das (who set himself ablaze) in Deeg is stable now. The Sadhus have ended their protest (over stone mining). The state government will issue a notification in the next 15 days to declare it as a forest area. Mines located here are old mines," District Collector, Alok Ranjan told ANI.

Locals and sadhus had long demanded that the mines be closed.

After city officials rescued Das, the administration also assured the sadhus that mines will be shifted from the area and informed about the state government's plans to transform the vicinity into a religious tourist spot.

"These mines will be shifted and about 2,500 people who will be unemployed as a result, will be employed somewhere else... The state govt intends to make it (stone mining area) into a religious tourism spot," Ranjan added.

On Tuesday morning, a sadhu climbed atop a mobile tower in the district's Deeg to protest stone mining in the area. The man was persuaded to come down eventually.