Rawalpindi - A 33-year-old embroidery worker tried to commit suicide by setting himself ablaze after his boss allegedly kept him in habeas corpus over monetary dispute in a factory, police informed on Wednesday.

The worker was rushed to Holy Family Hospital (HFH) Rawal Burn Unit for medical treatment where he was identified as Muhammad Imran, a resident of Salim Nagar, Wah Cannt, they said. The patient is battling for life, a doctor said.

A case under section 324/34 of PPC has been registered against the factory owner Kamran Khan and arrested him.

On the other hand, the family of the victim accused the factory owner of setting Imran on fire for demanding wage. Police are investigating the matter.

According to Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Ahmed Yar of Police Station (PS) Taxila, who is probing the case, Muhammad Imran was an expert in embroidery work and employed in a local factory owned by Kamran in Taxila.

He said the victim in his statement told police that he borrowed Rs 4000 from factory owner Kamran Khan and later could not return it.

He said Imran again demanded money from the factory owner but Kamran caught Imran and taken him to factory where he tied him with chains.

However, the ASI said, the detainee managed to release himself and tried self immolation. In result, the man sustained serious burn injuries and was moved to HFH for medical treatment.

The doctors started providing medical treatment to the victim but his condition was said to be critical, the police officer said.

On a query, ASI replied that police got information about the incident from the doctors of HFH and reached at the hospital for recording the statement of the victim.

He said police registered case against the factory owner Kamran and taken him into custody. On the other hand, a mother accused officials of Girja Police Post of implicating her son in a fake narcotics case for barring two drug sellers from selling narcotics in the area. One of the two drug peddlers is said to be nephew of former Station House Officer (SHO) Police Station Saddar Bairooni Malik Yar Muhammad.

The woman alleged that police booked and arrested her son Sagheer, a taxi driver, for stopping a police official Asif and Azhar, the nephew of Inspector Malik Yar Muhammad, from supplying drugs at Girja Road.

She said her son has been languishing in jail for last five months and she was running from pillar to post for getting justice but in vein.

She appealed CPO to provide her with justice. SHO PS Saddar Bairooni Tariq Gondal was unavailable for his version.