A fire destroyed five rooms at the ancestral home of National Citizen Party (NCP) lawmaker Nusrat Tabassum in Kushtia’s Daulatpur upazila early Thursday, with party leaders alleging that assailants hurled petrol bombs at the property.
The blaze broke out shortly after midnight at the lawmaker’s village home in Bagowan.
Firefighters brought it under control around 1:50am, but five of the eight rooms in the single-storey, tin-roofed house were destroyed. Two goats also died in the fire.
NCP leaders alleged that the house was deliberately targeted in a petrol bomb attack and blamed individuals linked to the Awami League.
Police, however, said they had yet to establish the cause of the fire or confirm whether any incendiary devices had been used.
Additional Superintendent of Police Delwar Hossain of the Bheramara Circle said that firefighters rushed to the scene after receiving information about the blaze.
He said the fire caused extensive damage to the house but did not spread to a nearby three-storey building where Tabassum’s parents were staying.
According to the police official, no family members sustained burn injuries.
NCP alleges four petrol bombs thrown
In a Facebook post, the NCP’s media cell alleged that individuals it described as “Awami terrorists” had thrown petrol bombs at the lawmaker’s residence.
NCP spokesperson Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan also alleged in a separate Facebook post that the property had been targeted in a petrol bomb attack.
Tabassum is a joint convener of the NCP and a member of its Political Council, the party’s highest policymaking body.
She represents a reserved women’s seat in the 13th National Parliament.
Additional Superintendent of Police Delwar Hossain said investigators had not established whether the fire resulted from a petrol bomb attack.
Fire service personnel remained at the scene to examine the damage and determine the origin of the blaze.
Police said the exact cause would be established following an investigation.
