The houses of three suspects in the murder of a Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal worker were set on fire in the Satla area of Wazirpur upazila on Saturday night.

The fire was set to the houses of Sajal Molla, 38, and Shamim Molla, 36, sons of Farid Molla of Alamdi village, around 10:00pm. The house of another accused, Iqbal Hossain alias Nannu Molla, also came under the arson attack.

The arson followed the killing of Jubo Dal worker Kawsar Howlader, 37, who was hacked to death in the Satla area on Friday night.

According to witness Rashed Amin Howlader, who was also injured in the incident, the attack took place near the Satla Bridge.

He said they took shelter in a nearby house while trying to escape.

However, a group of 18 to 20 people allegedly broke into the house and hacked Kawsar with sharp weapons. Rashed survived by hiding behind a door, while Kawsar was critically injured.

Locals later rescued the two and took them to Kotalipara Upazila Health Complex in Gopalganj, where doctors declared Kawsar dead.

Rashed alleged that an altercation took place between two groups earlier on Friday over a dispute involving drugs and that the killing stemmed from the incident.

He also alleged that people from Dhaka and Barishal arrived in Satla in microbuses and motorcycles before the attack.

Following the murder, police launched an operation and arrested nine people from the Padma Bridge South Police Station toll plaza area while they were allegedly trying to flee in a microbus.

Police also said they recovered sharp weapons from them.

Wazirpur Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Rakibul Islam said police initially learned that the murder stemmed from a dispute over a trivial matter.

“Someone set fire to the houses of three accused at night. We have visited the scene,” he said, adding that necessary action will be taken if a case is filed over the arson.