A witness in a drugs case was allegedly set on fire with petrol poured over him in Badalgachhi upazila of Naogaon on Saturday.

The incident left the witness, identified as Md Pakhi, 38, critically injured, while a female passerby sustained injuries. Locals later detained the alleged attacker, Asaduzzaman Tutul, and handed him over to police.

The incident occurred around 2:30pm in front of a house in Pukuria village under Kola Union.

Pakhi, son of Angur Hossain of Koya Bhabanipur village, was initially taken to Naogaon Sadar Hospital. As his condition deteriorated, he was later shifted to the burn unit of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.

The injured passerby, Hajera Begum, 60, wife of late Lachhir Uddin of Pukuria village, is receiving treatment at Naogaon Sadar Hospital.

According to police and local residents, Pakhi was travelling from Badalgachhi towards Kola Bazar when he reached the area in front of one Habib’s house.

Tutul, who was allegedly lying in wait, set fire to a bottle containing petrol and threw it at Pakhi. His hands, legs, face and other parts of his body were badly burned.

Locals rescued Pakhi and chased Tutul before detaining him and informing police.

Police said Tutul was arrested on July 25 with cannabis and heroin. A case was filed against him under the Narcotics Control Act, 2018, with police as the complainant.

Pakhi and several others were present as witnesses during the arrest, police said.

Police suspect Tutul carried out the attack after being released on bail following around 10 days in jail, as he had been angry with the witnesses and other locals.

Badalgachhi Police Station OC Mohammad Ruhul Amin said Tutul was in police custody and was a known drug addict.

A case was being prepared over the incident, and police are also investigating whether there was any other motive or anyone else involved in the attack, he added.