GUNTUR: A student of RVR & JC College of Engineering, N. Sudhir Kumar, 19, allegedly immolated himself on Thursday afternoon. Kumar was studying in second year B. Tech (Information Technology) and was staying along with his four classmates in a rented portion on the Ramalayam Street at Sakethapuram of Koretipadu.

He hailed from Ongole and his father, N. Venkata Ramaiah, is a junior lecturer at the Government Junior College at Medarametla.

The incident took place at about 3.30 p.m. Neighbours noticed smoke billowing from the room and alerted house owner K. Satyanarayana, who rushed to the top floor only to find Sudhir rolling on the floor in a ball of flame.

He doused the flames with water and covered him with a blanket before calling up `108' emergency services for help.

The personnel rushed to the house and found Sudhir in an unconscious state and declared him dead.

No suicide note

Preliminary investigations into the cause of death failed to provide any information. The police could not find any suicide note. Arundelpet sub-inspector Alahari Srinivas said that the student might have immolated himself with petrol. He said that the police would question his roommates, college management and the parents.

College principal PS Sankara Rao said that Sudhir was a regular student, who fared well at the examinations. Sudhir had returned from a brief vacation on Tuesday night.

He went to the college on Wednesday as usual but stayed away on Thursday, on the pretext that he had some personal work.

``He was extremely sensitive and never shared his feelings with us.

He was normal even in the morning and woke us up and prompted us to go to the college early. We had the least inkling that he would take such a step," one of his roommates, Ramesh, said.

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