Farmer Bachchu Pradhan died from burns sustained in a domestic accident and not from incidents related to petrol bomb attacks, police said on Wednesday.
The 50-year old farmer from Chandpur was reported to have succumbed to injuries he'd received from an arson attack while attending treatment at the intensive care unit (ICU) of Dhaka Medical College Hospital's burn unit.
Local police said Bachchu Pradhan was burned while warming himself up near a stove at his home in south Matlab upazila, Chandpur on January 6.
On the way to Dhaka, his relatives were advised to introduce Bachchu as a victim of petrol bomb arson for better treatment, Chandpur police Superintendent Amir Zafar told the Dhaka Tribune.
“I sent south Matlab Police Station's officer-in-charge to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and investigating officer to the home of the deceased.”
“They learned that the farmer was basically burned from the stove,” he said. “Relatives thought that Bachchu will get better attention if introduced as an arson victim.”
When Bachchu Pradhan, son of late Abdul Mojid, died at 6am on Wednesday, media throughout Bangladesh covered the incident as a farmer falling prey to a polls-vendetta.
