No possibility of fire at Nusrat’s house from short circuit: Rural electricity official

An electrical short circuit could not have caused the fire at the ancestral home of Nusrat Tabassum, joint convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP) and a member of parliament from a reserved women’s seat, said Tozammel Haque, assistant general manager (operations and maintenance) of the Pragpur Rural Electricity Sub-Zonal Office in Kushtia.

Following the fire at Nusrat’s ancestral home late on Wednesday night, officials of the local rural electricity office removed the electricity meter. The operation was overseen by Tozammel Haque, AGM of the Pragpur Rural Electricity Sub-Zonal Office.

The rural electricity official inspected the burnt house again today, Friday. Asked about the incident, Tozammel Haque told Prothom Alo that he had inspected the meter, the wiring and the main switch connected to the meter at the scene.

He said the cut-out was found intact upon inspection. The transformer fuse had not blown either, nor had the main switch connected to the meter been damaged. Therefore, there was no possibility of a short circuit, he said.

Speaking in parliament on Thursday, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said he believed no petrol bomb had been used at the site. 

Given the age of the electrical wiring, the possibility of an electrical short circuit was very high, he said. 

However, he added that if a more thorough investigation established evidence of sabotage, the government would take appropriate action.

Meanwhile, a committee formed by the Ministry of Home Affairs has begun investigating the fire at Nusrat’s ancestral home. At around 10.30 am today, committee members visited the house in Bagoan village of Daulatpur upazila. They questioned Shah Alam, a resident of the house, and Nusrat’s father, Abdul Halim, about various details of the incident and what had happened at the time.

However, in a post on her Facebook account around midnight on Thursday, Nusrat Tabassum said that, following the home minister’s remarks in parliament regarding the alleged petrol bomb attack on her village home in Kushtia, she would remain sceptical about the impartiality of the investigation.

The fire broke out late on Wednesday night at Nusrat’s ancestral home in Bagoan village of Daulatpur, Kushtia.

She filed a case with Daulatpur police station, alleging that her family members had been targeted in an attempted murder through arson and an explosion at the house. 

The case names leaders of the banned Bangladesh Chhatra League, as well as the Awami League’s affiliated organisations, the Jubo League and Swechchhasebak League, whose activities have been banned in the country, from Kushtia district and Daulatpur upazila.