BNP leader’s daughter burnt to death in Laxmipur
Staff Reporter :
A child was killed and three others critically injured as the house of a BNP leader was locked from the outside and set on fire in Lakshmipur Sadar upazila on Saturday.
The incident occurred around 1:00am at the residence of Belal Hossain, a businessman and assistant organising secretary of Bhabaniganj Union BNP, police said.
Belal’s daughter, Ayesha Akter, 7, was burnt to death in fire at West Char Mansa village under Bhabaniganj Union, said Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Lakshmipur Sadar Model Thana Md Wahid Parvez.
The BNP leader and his two other daughters, Salma Akter, 16, and Samia Akter, 14, suffered critical burn injuries. Belal is receiving treatment at Lakshmipur Sadar Hospital, while his daughters have been sent to Dhaka for advanced care, he said.
OC Wahid Parvez visited the spot with a police team and confirmed the details to The Daily Star at 10:30am this morning, saying, “We are investigating who committed this act and the motive behind it.” Belal’s mother, Hazera Begum, said, “I went to sleep after dinner. Around 1:00am, I woke up and saw through the window that my son’s tin-shed house was on fire. I ran out screaming but found both doors of the house locked from the outside..”
She added, “My granddaughters, Salma, Samia, and Ayesha, were sleeping in one of the rooms. Two of them were rescued with severe burns, but the youngest girl (Ayesha) was burnt to death inside. Belal was also badly burned.”
Hazera Begum claimed that miscreants locked both doors and set the house on fire by pouring petrol, but could not identify who was responsible.
Ranjit Kumar Das, station officer of Lakshmipur Fire Service, stated, “We reached the spot and brought the fire under control. We recovered the body of one child and rescued three others with burn injuries. Two of them are in critical condition.
Hasibur Rahman, joint convener of Lakshmipur District BNP, condemned the incident and demanded a proper investigation to identify and bring the perpetrators to justice.