Vehicle snatched on theft suspicion: Cumilla autorickshaw driver, who set himself on fire, dies

Autorickshaw driver Md Sabuj (30), who attempted suicide by setting himself on fire after his vehicle was snatched over a theft suspicion in Chandina of Comilla earlier this week, succumbed to his injuries today (18 April).

He breathed his last while under treatment at the Burn and Plastic Surgery unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, his wife Khushi Akhter confirmed to The Business Standard.

Father of two children, Sabuj was the son of Amir Hossain of Garamara village in Barera union of Chandina upazila.

He used to live in a rented house in the Belashahar area of ​​Chandina upazila and earned a living by driving a battery-powered autorickshaw.

"There is no law for the poor, no justice. They [local community leaders] had caught the thief and released him, and then fined my husband by accusing him of the theft," said Khushi Akhter.

"My husband, unable to bear this abuse, set himself on fire and died. They still have not returned my husband's autorickshaw," she added.

The incident left 35% of his body burned, according to doctors at the Chandina Upazila Health Complex, where Sabuj was initially taken.

According to locals and police, Sabuj and three others used to rent Yunus Mia's garage on Chandina Hospital Road to keep their autorickshaws. The three of them also took turns guarding the vehicles.

On 7 December 2024, at 3:30am, two of the autorickshaws were stolen from that garage. Later, after looking at the CCTV footage, they identified the thieves and filed a case with Chandina Police Station on 4 March of this year, accusing three named and 10 unnamed people.

The locals later caught a man named Manik and handed him over to the police in that case. While the case was pending at the police station, some local community leaders freed Manik from police custody, promising to settle the matter locally, and instead declared that Sabuj was the thief. They also fined him Tk50,000.

Since Sabuj could not pay the Tk 50,000 fine, he did not accept the verdict.

Later on 13 April, reportedly at the instigation of some community leaders, a man named Salauddin detained Sabuj and took his autorickshaw, labelling him a thief. Salauddin also reportedly pressured him to pay the fine of Tk50,000, said Khushi.

At that time, Sabuj, unable to bear the slander, publicly poured petrol on himself and set himself on fire.

When contacted over the incident, Chandina Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Jabed ul Islam said, "I was not stationed here when the theft took place. When pressure was created by blaming Sabuj for the theft, he could not bear the insult and tried to commit suicide by setting himself on fire. He died while undergoing treatment on Friday. Legal action will be taken in this incident."