Fire at Nusrat's house may have been caused by short circuit, says Home Minister
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed talks in the Parliament on Thursday. Phto taken from video stream.
Nusrat Tabassum claims that a petrol bomb was thrown at her ancestral home and it was set on fire; her party leaders allege that the Awami League is behind this sabotage. But based on information from the preliminary investigation, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said the cause of this fire could be a fault in the electrical connection.
After widespread discussion about the fire that occurred early hours on Thursday and criticism of the government over it in the legislature, the Home Minister presented the preliminary investigation information on the fire at opposition Member of Parliament Nusrat's house, in Parliament.
He said that since the electrical supply system at the abandoned ancestral village home of NCP leader Nusrat was very old, this fire may have occurred due to a short circuit. No traces of a petrol bomb were found there.
The Home Minister's statement in Parliament came immediately after the statement by NCP Convener and opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam, who claimed that a petrol bomb was thrown at the house of NCP Joint Convener Nusrat and it was set on fire.
Nahid criticized the Home Minister over the law and order situation in light of this incident and questioned whether it could still be said that the law and order situation had deteriorated after an MP's house was set on fire.
Just a day earlier, the Home Minister had said in Parliament that the law and order situation could not be said to have deteriorated due to incidents such as a few hand bomb explosions or scattered incidents of arson on some buses.
A few hours after that, after midnight, a part of Nusrat's ancestral home in Bagoan village of Mathurapur Union in Kushtia's Daulatpur Upazila caught fire.
After rushing to the house upon hearing the news, Nusrat said at a press conference that petrol bombs were deliberately thrown to set her house on fire. She believes the Awami League, which was ousted from power in the July uprising, is behind this.
Later in the afternoon, at the start of the parliamentary session, Nahid, a fellow fighter of Nusrat in the July movement, stood for an unscheduled discussion and expressed outrage over the incident while criticizing the BNP government's "compromise" with the Awami League.
In response, the Home Minister described the location of MP Nusrat's village home and said that the fire incident occurred at the tin-shed semi-pucca house of MP Nusrat Tabassum in Bagoan village of Mathurapur Union in Kushtia's Daulatpur Upazila, 7 kilometers from the border. No one lives in this house. Her family lives in a three-storey house 20 meters away.
The Home Minister said that Fire Service, police, and BGB had gone there after receiving news of the fire. He said he himself had spoken with the police about it. He reported that two goats died in the fire.
Salahuddin said he had ordered an investigation into whether the fire broke out or was set by someone. The investigation is being carried out jointly by BGB, Fire Service, police, and the administration.
The Home Minister presented in Parliament the preliminary investigation report received from BGB members, noting that they had gone there because the area is near the border.
He said, "According to the BGB report, no sound of a petrol bomb explosion was heard, and no trace of a petrol bomb was found on the walls of the house. No information about anyone throwing a petrol bomb was found from any witness either.
"It is broadly assumed that no petrol bomb was used here. Initially it appears that since the house is old, there was weakness in the electrical wiring. One photo shows that this could be an incident like a short circuit."
However, noting that this is still an assumption, Salahuddin said a full statement on the matter can be given subject to a complete investigation.
He said that although the house where the fire occurred is abandoned, since it is the house of a Member of Parliament, the matter is being viewed with importance.
The Home Minister said that if anyone has carried out any sabotage there, and if that is revealed in a further investigation, the government will take action accordingly.
He said that after a General Diary (GD) was filed in this incident, an investigation is now ongoing based on it.
"However, as with an abandoned house, since the electric line here is extremely old, our preliminary investigation finds that the possibility of an electrical short circuit is very high," he said, concluding his statement in Parliament.
At the press conference, Nusrat had claimed that after watching video recorded on CCTV cameras, she felt that a petrol bomb had been thrown to set the fire.
Expressing dissatisfaction over the overall law and order situation, she had said, "The law and order situation is already loose. Police are not doing much anywhere. Everywhere is unsafe like this."
She had also expressed dissatisfaction over the police's delay in collecting evidence.
Nusrat said, "Police have not yet collected evidence. The OC of the local police station also said the forensic team has left from Dhaka. But I am doubtful how much evidence can remain 18 hours after an incident has occurred."
Nusrat, a former student of Dhaka University, was a coordinator of the anti-discrimination student movement that led to the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government in 2024.
She is serving as Joint Convener of the NCP, a party formed on the initiative of the protesting youth. She was made a member of the reserved women's seats in the thirteenth National Parliament on the NCP's nomination.
Nusrat said she had been receiving threats by phone over the past few days. She filed a GD on Tuesday. Just a day later, her house in Kushtia was set on fire.
After Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in the July uprising, announced in December that she would return to the country, her party Awami League (banned from activities) became active. The government has been claiming that they are involved in hand bomb explosions and setting vehicles on fire in various parts of the country over the past few days.
NCP leaders say the banned Awami League has continued killings and attacks in various parts of the country. In continuation of that, Nusrat's house was set on fire.
Nusrat also said, hinting at Sheikh Hasina, "What a stupid person! Who has ever been able to return by carrying out sabotage and burning houses? If she thinks she can return by burning houses, that is extreme stupidity."
