NCP leaders on Friday questioned the government's neutrality in investigating what they alleged to be a petrol bomb attack on the Kushtia home of party leader and reserve seat MP Nusrat Tabassum, accusing the Home Minister of downplaying the incident before the investigation was completed.
Videos purporting to be CCTV footage of the incident a little after midnight on Wednesday night (Thursday morning) was consistent with a petrol bomb attack.
NCP Joint Convener and MP Abdullah Al Amin raised the questions after a team comprising several NCP MPs and party leaders made an inspection visit at Nusrat's fire-damaged house at Bagowan village in Daulatpur Upazila of Kushtia.
He alleged that Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed had attempted to portray the house as abandoned and the fire as a possible result of an electrical short circuit, raising doubts about the government's willingness to take action against those responsible.
“We are concerned whether the government is trying to hold the Awami League accountable or find ways to rehabilitate it,” Al Amin said at a press briefing after the inspection.
He said the team had examined the house and CCTV footage showing people, including women and children, coming out of the building after the fire broke out.
Al Amin also said the team found the electricity meter and wiring apparently intact and had spoken to local residents and officials of the Palii Bidyut.
He questioned how the incident could be attributed to a short circuit before a proper investigation.
He said the NCP leaders and MPs would prepare a report based on their observations and make it public.
Nusrat, who was also present at the briefing, said she and her family had become victims of an act of sabotage, expressing her firm belief that Awami League activists were behind the attack.
She criticised attempts to divert attention from identifying the perpetrators by debating whether the house was abandoned or inhabited.
Nusrat also said she had provided the Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) with the whereabouts, phone number, and other information about the prime accused when filing the case, but no arrest had yet been made.
She called for a fair investigation and criticised what she described as attempts to announce the findings before the investigation was completed.
A fire broke out at Nusrat's Kushtia home late Wednesday night. Two people were injured, two goats died, and household belongings were destroyed in the incident.
Nusrat filed an attempted murder case with Daulatpur Police Station, naming eight people and 25-30 unidentified others as accused.