Nusrat Angry at 'Abandoned' Remark, Files Case Herself at Daulatpur Police Station Over House Fire

Reserved women's seat MP and National Citizen Party (NCP) joint convener Nusrat Tabassum has expressed anger at Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed's statement in Parliament over the alleged petrol bomb attack and fire at her ancestral home in Daulatpur, Kushtia. With the house described as long abandoned and an electrical short circuit suggested as the likely cause of the fire, her question is — why does the home minister want to downplay the attack?

Replying in Parliament on Thursday to a question from Leader of the Opposition's Chief Whip and NCP convener Nahid Islam, the home minister presented the government's preliminary investigation findings on the fire. He said it was being examined whether the fire started accidentally or was set deliberately. The BGB, the Fire Service and the local administration are jointly investigating the incident, he said.

The home minister told Parliament that no sign of a petrol bomb explosion had been found at the scene. The house had been abandoned for a long time, and because its electrical wiring was old, it was initially thought more likely that the fire started from a short circuit, he said.

In reaction, Nusrat Tabassum expressed her anger in a post on her own Facebook account before Thursday evening. She wrote: 'Standing in Parliament, the home minister declared a dwelling house — home to six or seven people including a child, and several cattle — abandoned! He called a ruin filled with the burnt smell of petrol the result of a short circuit!'

In the post, Nusrat Tabassum also wrote: 'In fact, if you do not have a royal flat worth crores, anyone's dwelling house can seem abandoned! Not everyone can multiply their wealth several times over even while living abroad.'

Nusrat Tabassum claimed she believes Awami League people are involved in the attack, and asked why the home minister wanted to downplay the incident. If her house was abandoned, she also asked whether Dhaka University's FBS, a bus at Farmgate or Kamalapur Railway Station were abandoned too. At the end of the post she wrote: 'Shame!'

Meanwhile, Nusrat Tabassum herself filed a case at Daulatpur Police Station on Thursday night over the fire at the house. The case names eight leaders of the banned Awami League and its affiliated organisations, along with 25 to 30 other unnamed accused.

The Fire Service, police and the Palli Bidyut authority have begun investigating the fire at Nusrat Tabassum's ancestral home in Daulatpur. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police has collected various pieces of evidence from the scene.

At a press conference, Nusrat Tabassum said: 'I think this is the work of the Awami League.' She also said Awami League people were celebrating on social media after the incident. But she claimed she cannot be suppressed by intimidation.

The NCP has also taken to the streets in protest against the arson attack on MP Nusrat's house, according to reports.