Faked death goes viral after failed cricket bet

Bangladesh police have detained a man who faked his murder on social media – using fruit juice as imitation blood – to avoid paying out $1,800 on a cricket bet, an officer said Tuesday.

A video of Adel Shikder’s purported murder was shared some 10,000 times within days, prompting a hunt for his body.

“He hired a film make-up artist who is an occasional videographer to film his ‘murder’ after he lost a bet of 150,000 taka ($1,800) on the Nidahas trophy final between Bangladesh and India,” senior Dhaka police official Kamruzzaman Sardar told AFP.

Bangladesh lost the March 18 match in Colombo when India’s Dinesh Karthik hammered a last-ball six to clinch an improbable victory.

Police said three people are seen in the video. Two appeared to slit the throat of Shikder, 28, after holding him down.

They used red fruit juice syrup as fake blood on his body while photos of a slit throat were shared on social media.

Shikder sent the film anonymously to the person to whom he lost the cricket bet.

The case unraveled after police arrested the make-up artist on Saturday and the next day Shikder was detained in the central district of Faridpur, Kamruzzaman said.

“I did it so that he did not seek any money from me. I did not realize it would cause all this,” Shikder said on a TV broadcast.