Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said no evidence of petrol bomb use has been found in the fire at reserved-seat MP Nusrat Tabassum’s village home, with preliminary findings indicating that an electrical short circuit may have caused the blaze.
Speaking in the National Parliament on Thursday, Ahmed said investigators were still examining whether the incident was an act of sabotage.
The issue was raised earlier on a point of order by Opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam, who alleged that four petrol bombs had been thrown at Nusrat Tabassum’s house.
Ahmed said a tin-shed structure and a semi-pucca house at Tabassum’s village home caught fire. Her parents live in a three-storey building about 20 metres away. No one was present in the affected house at the time, although it contained two goats and some belongings.
Additional Superintendent of Police and the officer-in-charge of the local police station visited the site, the minister said. Ahmed added that he had spoken to the superintendent of police in the morning and asked him to visit the scene.
A Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) team also went to the site. A Fire Service vehicle from a neighbouring police station brought the fire under control after being alerted through the national emergency hotline 999.
Ahmed said the BGB, Fire Service, administration and police were jointly investigating whether the fire was accidental or deliberately set.
Citing a BGB report, the minister said conversations with local residents and law-enforcement personnel, along with an examination of evidence, had found no proof of petrol bomb use.
“No sound resembling a petrol bomb explosion was heard,” Ahmed said. “No signs of a petrol bomb were found on the walls of the house, and no witness provided such information.”
Ahmed said photographs, audio, video and other evidence suggested that the old house had weaknesses in its electrical wiring and connections. One photograph indicated an incident resembling a short circuit, he said, while stressing that the assessment remained tentative.
“A full statement can be made after the investigation is completed,” he said.
Ahmed said action would be taken if further investigation established that anyone had carried out sabotage. A general diary has already been filed, and police are investigating on that basis.
Preliminary findings suggest that a short circuit in the old electrical connection of the largely abandoned house was the more likely cause of the fire, he said.