Staff Reporter :
A gang of unidentified miscreants torched at least 10 tin-shed houses of the people of Hindu community at Horijonpalli at Bonomalipara in Bochaganj upazila of Dinajpur district early Saturday.
However, no causalities were reported in the fire incident, police said.
“The tin-shed houses of seven Hindu families and three Harijan families (professional cleaners) were set
on fire in Railway Colony area around 3:30am. Around 40 to 50 people used to live in the houses but none was injured as the residents managed to run to safety,” said Habibur Rahman, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Bochaganj Police Station.
On information, a firefighting unit rushed to the spot and extinguished the blaze within two hours of its frantic efforts, he said.
Locals caught a youth named Jewel, 23, son of Ayub Ali, a local BNP leader, as he was fleeing the scene after allegedly setting the houses on fire. They handed him over to the police, the OC said.
Shilabrata Karmakar, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Bochaganj, said, 30 kg of rice, clothes and blankets have been distributed among each of the victim families.
Corrugated iron sheets and cash money will also be provided for their rehabilitation, said the UNO.
Munir Lal Bashfore, a resident and cleaner in profession, told The New Nation, one “Jewel had been threatening the Hindu community there over a scuffle during this year’s Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of the community.”
A gang of unidentified miscreants torched at least 10 tin-shed houses of the people of Hindu community at Horijonpalli at Bonomalipara in Bochaganj upazila of Dinajpur district early Saturday.
However, no causalities were reported in the fire incident, police said.
“The tin-shed houses of seven Hindu families and three Harijan families (professional cleaners) were set
on fire in Railway Colony area around 3:30am. Around 40 to 50 people used to live in the houses but none was injured as the residents managed to run to safety,” said Habibur Rahman, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Bochaganj Police Station.
On information, a firefighting unit rushed to the spot and extinguished the blaze within two hours of its frantic efforts, he said.
Locals caught a youth named Jewel, 23, son of Ayub Ali, a local BNP leader, as he was fleeing the scene after allegedly setting the houses on fire. They handed him over to the police, the OC said.
Shilabrata Karmakar, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Bochaganj, said, 30 kg of rice, clothes and blankets have been distributed among each of the victim families.
Corrugated iron sheets and cash money will also be provided for their rehabilitation, said the UNO.
Munir Lal Bashfore, a resident and cleaner in profession, told The New Nation, one “Jewel had been threatening the Hindu community there over a scuffle during this year’s Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of the community.”
