He was produced before a court which remanded him to judicial custody

A 30-year-old local functionary of Congress attempted self-immolation after being arrested by police on the charge of harassing girls at a Scheduled Tribe hostel in Rajanna Sircilla district Sunday, police said.

Bandari Bala Kumar, Sircilla unit Youth Congress president, was taken into custody after he entered the hostel in the town and harassed the girls allegedly under inebriated condition, they said.

When he was taken to a hospital for examination, he doused himself with kerosene and attempted to set himself afire. However, police managed to foil his attempt.

He was later produced before a court which remanded him to judicial custody, police said.