A 50-year-old farmer died after becoming entangled in an electrified wire trap set to kill rats while heading to spray pesticide on his paddy field in Sharankhola upazila of Bagerhat.
The incident occurred around 1pm in Uttar Southkhali village on Wednesday. The deceased was identified as Mijan Howlader, son of Lal Miah Howlader of the same village.
According to local sources, two farmers, Salek Mulla and Babul Mulla, had installed an electrified iron wire along the boundary of their farmland to kill rats.
Mijan was heading to his paddy field to spray pesticide when he accidentally became entangled in the live wire placed along the boundary of the adjacent field. He was electrocuted and died on the spot.
Sharankhola Police Station Sub-Inspector Hafizur Rahman said police went to the scene after receiving information and found Mijan’s body between the fields belonging to Salek and Babul.
Police subsequently recovered the body.
Sharankhola Police Station Officer-in-Charge Rokeya Khanam said the body would be sent to the Bagerhat District Hospital morgue for a post-mortem examination.
She added that legal action would be taken if a case was filed over the incident.
Sharankhola Sub-Zonal Office of Palli Bidyut Samiti Assistant General Manager Md Zahid Reza said he was unaware of the farmer’s death involving an electric wire.
He said the incident would be investigated and action taken if electricity was found to have been used illegally.
Upazila Agriculture Department Deputy Assistant Plant Protection Officer Md Mostafa Mashiul Alam said farmers were advised to use poisoned bait instead of electricity to control rats.
He said the department organised awareness gatherings in villages to educate farmers about safer pest control methods, but many failed to follow the advice.
Further measures would be taken to raise awareness among farmers, he added.
