Feni district unit BNP activists allegedly set a community centre alight in the early hours of Wednesday.
According to sources, the fire broke out around 4am at the Betikrom Community Centre which was scheduled to host a BNP rally Wednesday afternoon around 3pm. The rally was part of BNP’s mass contact programme across the country, aimed at mobilising support in favour of their demand of holding elections under a non-partisan interim government.
Sources alleged that activists of the district unit BNP had set fire to the venue as they were not invited to the rally where advisers to the BNP chairperson, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury and Abdul Awal Mintoo, were to attend.
Zia Uddin Master, general secretary of Feni district unit BNP, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The meeting has been postponed and currently we are trying to find the culprits behind the incident.”
Officer-in-Charge of Feni sadar police station, Abul Kalam, said law enforcers had examined the scene of the fire. The incident may have been the result of internal feuds in the party.
A number of leaders, seeking anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune that the fire was set after some dedicated leaders of the party’s district unit were not invited to the rally.