Indian police say a government employee from the eastern state of Bihar has set himself on fire in a protest at the non-payment of his salary.

Doctors say the forty-year old man is in a critical state after suffering 50% burns.

A police patrol managed to douse the flames after spotting him as he ran in flames from the courthouse in the state capital, Patna.

According to police, another two state employees have been arrested for threatening to immolate themselves after not receiving their wages for more than a year.

Earlier this week, a man set fire to himself outside Patna's high court to demand an inquiry into his father's killing and the rape of his wife.

A state minister in charge of village councils, Upendra Prasad Verma told the BBC that Bihar's finances are bad, with the state's budget deficit running to hundreds of millions of dollars.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service