A resident of the Yakkabag district of the Kashkadarya province spalshed gasoline over the deputy district mayor Mansur Tuymaev and set him on fire.

The General Prosecutor’s Office said that deputy mayor sustained 35–40% burn of the body surface and was hospitalized. The footage of the incident went viral on the social networks.

The incident occurred on July 20 at about 5:30 PM, when the deputy mayor, 43, was personally performing the demolition of the Khisor Sarlochin stores, after the bulldozer driver refused to demolish. The owner of one of the stores B.I., 56, splashed gasoline over the face of the mayor Taymayev and set him on fire.

The Yakkabag district prosecutor office opened a criminal case against B. I. under part 1 of article 97 through article 25 of the Criminal Code (Attempted murder), with investigation underway. B.I.'s two sons were also reportedly taken to the local police department and beaten, with no allegations put forward.

However, the prosecutor office is not rushing to open a criminal case against the district authorities for violating the Private Property regulations, in particular, no compensation was paid for the buildings that are being demolished. 

Liberty Radio reported that the man tried to protect his two-story store, which is being demolished under the Obod mahalla (transl. Improved neighborhood) urban development program, without compensation whatsoever being offered to owners, and deputy mayor was trying to personally perform the demolition in a bulldozer.

The rule of law is extremely weak in Uzbekistan, with anyone and any business could see their property seized, demolished and puppet judges taking rubber-stamped rulings. There is probably some sort of security umbrella for chosen high profile foreign investors. Uzbekistan does need to enhance the rule of law, an independent juduciary, as there are no guarantees that the safety umbrella will not vanish away, let's say after the leadership change, whenever that happens.

A strong rule of law is in the very interest of many high-ranking officials, who own, either through proxies, large businesses in the country, as with the current degree of rule of law, nobody can guarantee the safety of their investments in the future.