Arson at Locked House in Muladi Burns Eight Rooms; Petrol Bomb Traces Found

An arson attack has been carried out on the locked home of an Awami League leader in Shologhar village of Charkalekhan union, under Muladi upazila of Barishal. At around 1:30am on Friday night, eight rooms of the house, along with its kitchen and wood storage room, were set on fire at the same time. As the house was locked, no one was injured in the incident.

The Fire Service said traces of a petrol bomb were found at the scene. As the fire spread through all the rooms and the veranda simultaneously, the refrigerator, television, furniture and valuable documents inside were burned.

The owner of the house, Joynal Abedin, is the son of the late Abdul Mannan Bepari of Shologhar village. He is the assistant finance secretary of the central Projonomo League, an associate organisation of the Awami League, whose activities are suspended.

Joynal Abedin alleged that miscreants hurled a petrol bomb at his house and set it ablaze out of prior enmity. He lives in Keraniganj, Dhaka, for business purposes. On Friday night, at around 1:30am, he learned from a neighbour that his house was on fire and called the national emergency service number 999.

On receiving the call, police and a team from the Muladi Fire Service reached the scene at around 2:30am and began extinguishing the fire. As the rooms were locked, firefighters had to break the locks to bring the blaze under control, the Fire Service said.

Joynal Abedin said his house has eight rooms and that all of them, together with the veranda, were set on fire at once. The kitchen and the wood storage room were also set ablaze. He said he would take legal action over the incident.

According to his allegation, a group of miscreants had also attacked his house on October 11. On that occasion, he and his family members were beaten after chili powder was thrown at them, and household belongings were looted.

Over that attack, Joynal Abedin filed a case with the Barishal Senior Judicial Magistrate Court on November 11, naming 16 people and accusing 15 other unidentified persons. He claimed the arson took place just two days after the case was filed.

Md Nurul Islam, team leader of the Muladi Fire Service and Civil Defence Station, said firefighters went to the scene after receiving news of the fire in Shologhar village at around 2am. All the rooms of the brick building were burning at the same time. As the rooms were locked, the locks had to be broken to fight the fire, and the delay meant many belongings inside were burned. He also confirmed that traces of a petrol bomb were found at the scene.

Khandaker Md Sohel Rana, officer-in-charge of Muladi Police Station, said police visited the scene the same night after receiving the news and a preliminary investigation has begun. As the house was locked, there were no casualties. However, no one has yet filed a written complaint at the police station over the incident; he said legal action would be taken following an investigation once a complaint is received.