No Chance the Fire at MP Nusrat's Home Came From a Short Circuit: Palli Bidyut Official
There is no chance that the fire at the ancestral home of Nusrat Tabassum — joint convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP) and a member of parliament from a reserved women's seat — in Kushtia originated from an electrical short circuit, Tozammel Haque, AGM (Operations and Maintenance) of the Pragpur Palli Bidyut sub-zonal office in the district, has said.
The Palli Bidyut official visited the burned house again on Friday. When contacted, Tozammel Haque told Prothom Alo that the meter and wires at the scene, and the main switch connected to the meter, had been examined.
He said the cutout was found intact on inspection. The transformer fuse had not blown either, and the main switch connected to the meter had not tripped. So there is no scope for a short circuit.
After the fire broke out at Nusrat's ancestral home late on Wednesday night, officials of the local Palli Bidyut Samity office removed the electricity meter. Tozammel Haque, AGM of the Pragpur Palli Bidyut sub-zonal office, was in charge of that task.
Earlier, on Thursday, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmad had told parliament, regarding the fire at MP Nusrat's home, that it was believed no petrol bomb had been used there. As the electrical wiring was old, the possibility of an electrical short circuit was very high, he said, adding that if the further investigation found proof of sabotage, the government would take action accordingly.
Meanwhile, a committee formed by the Ministry of Home Affairs has begun investigating the fire at Nusrat's ancestral home. At about 10:30am on Friday, members of the committee went to the house in Bagoan village of Daulatpur upazila.
The committee members asked Shah Alam, a resident of the house, and Nusrat Tabassum's father Abdul Halim about various details of the time of the incident.
However, in a post on her Facebook account at around midnight on Thursday, MP Nusrat Tabassum said that after the Home Minister's statement in parliament regarding the allegation of a petrol bomb attack on her village home in Kushtia, she would remain doubtful about the neutrality of the investigation into the incident.
The fire broke out late on Wednesday night at Nusrat's ancestral home in Bagoan village of Daulatpur, Kushtia. She filed a case with Daulatpur police station alleging that fire and an explosion were set off at the house in an attempt to kill members of her family. The case names Kushtia district and Daulatpur upazila leaders of the banned Chhatra League and the activity-banned Jubo League and Swechchhasebak League.
