No signs of petrol bomb, short circuit may have caused fire at NCP MP Nusrat’s home: Home minister

Résumé détaillé

The fire at the ancestral home of reserved-seat NCP MP Nusrat Tabassum was likely caused by an electrical short circuit, with preliminary findings suggesting that no petrol bomb…

The fire at the ancestral home of reserved-seat NCP MP Nusrat Tabassum was likely caused by an electrical short circuit, with preliminary findings suggesting that no petrol bomb was used in the incident, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed told parliament today.

He was responding to allegations by Opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam, who said four petrol bombs had been thrown at the NCP lawmaker’s Kushtia house last night.

Addressing the Jatiya Sangsad, Salahuddin said the fire broke out at a semi-pucca, tin-roofed house belonging to the MP’s family in her village. Her parents live in a separate three-storey building about 20 metres away.

Nobody lived in the affected house, the minister said. Two goats and various household belongings were kept there, including shoemaking materials and clothes stored by a caretaker.

He said an additional superintendent of police and the local police station’s officer-in-charge had inspected the site. The superintendent of police was also sent there after the minister spoke to him personally. A Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) team visited the location as well.

The Fire Service responded immediately after receiving a call through the national emergency hotline 999 and brought the blaze under control using a fire engine from a neighbouring station, he added.

Salahuddin said an investigation had been ordered to establish whether the fire was accidental or deliberate. The BGB, Fire Service, local administration and police will jointly conduct the inquiry.

Referring to a preliminary BGB assessment, he said discussions with local residents and law enforcement personnel had yielded no reports of an explosion consistent with a petrol bomb attack.

No signs of a petrol bomb were found on the house's walls, and no witnesses reported seeing or hearing anything that suggested such an attack.

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