NEW DELHI, Dec 21: The Kargil war against Pakistan evokes memories of valour, if also controversy and fiasco among Indians. But on Wednesday the sister of an Indian Army hero from the 1999 standoff tried to immolate herself in the presence of Petroleum Minister Murli Deora.

Reason? She was demanding the restoration of a petrol pump which the authorities had sealed on charges of adulteration, The Hindu reported on Thursday.

It said Lakshmi Kumari, sister of Army soldier Harinder Singh, was distressed as the petrol pump at Jattari, Agra, allotted to her family under the defence quota after the death of her brother, was closed down.

As the 90-minute press conference by Mr Deora came to an end, Ms Kumari asked the minister why her plea to restore the pump had not been heeded. When Mr Deora said it was not an appropriate forum to raise a personal issue, she broke down and attempted to immolate herself, the paper said.

However, security personnel and mediamen managed to abort her suicide bid.

In her application to the petroleum ministry, Ms Kumari had alleged that the petrol pump was closed because the family had tried to remove a tout who they had hired as manager of the petrol pump under pressure from local officers of the state-owned Indian Oil Corporation.