Former BAEC chairman Dilip Kumar Saha dies from COVID-19

Dilip Kumar Saha, a nuclear scientist and the former chairman of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, has died at the age of 72 after being diagnosed with COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus.

He breathed his last at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital around 4 am on Monday, the Ministry of Science and Technology said in a statement.

Dilip contracted the coronavirus about three or four days ago, according to AKM Zakaria, chief scientific officer of BAEC.

"He got tested at a private hospital in Dhaka and the report came back positive. He later passed away on Monday,” he said.

Dilip Kumar Saha was born in Manikganj's Baokhand village in 1959.

He was appointed as the chairman of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission in August 2017, having previously served as the director of the Atomic Energy Centre in Dhaka.

Dilip joined the Atomic Energy Centre at Dhaka in 1983 as a scientific officer after obtaining his MSC degree from Dhaka University’s Applied Physics and Electronics department.

In a message of condolence, Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman said, "He (Dilip) played a significant role in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in Bangladesh. The nation has lost a revered nuclear scientist.”