Suspect dies by suicide before being arrested

A man died after he allegedly set himself on fire to avoid arrest in a remote village of Sirajganj on Wednesday, police said.

The deceased, Jewel Rana, 35, of Gatiar Char of the Jamuna river in Mesra union, was a motorcycle thief. He was facing nine arrest warrants in cases filed with different police stations, said law enforcers.

Talking to The Daily Star, Bahauddin Faruki, officer-in-charge of Sirajganj Sadar Police Station, said acting on a tip-off, one of their teams raided Jewel's house on Wednesday afternoon.

Sensing police presence, Jewel sneaked into a room and locked its door and windows from the inside.

The police team repeatedly asked him to surrender, but he refused to do so.

They also called in the local chairman and Jewel's family members and tried to convince him to surrender.

At one point, Jewel poured petrol on him and set himself on fire, the OC said, adding that the petrol was collected from a motorcycle stolen allegedly by Jewel, said the OC.

Jewel died on the spot. Later, police recovered the body and sent it to the morgue of Sirajganj General Hospital.

The law enforcers also claimed to have recovered charred remains of three stolen motorcycles from the spot.

Contacted, Abdul Mazid, chairman of Mesra union, confirmed the incident.

The Daily Star tried to contact Jewel's family members for comments, but could not reach them over phone.