Our Correspondent :
Three children were burnt to death on Sunday evening as one of their family members allegedly set fire to their house in Shailkupa upazila of Jhenidah over a family dispute.
Police arrested the accused arsonist Iqbal Hossain Dulu at night.
The deceased were identified as Iqbal’s nephew Mostafa Shafin, 10, and Mostafa Amin, 5, sons of Delwar Hossain, and Iqbal’s cousin Mahim Hossain, 14, of Kabirpur village. Mahim’s mother Jesmine Khatun, 40, also received critical burn injuries in the fire. Locals and police said Iqbal who lives at nearby house entered Delwar’s house around 7:30pm and tied hands and legs of the children inside their study room. Later, Iqbal sprayed patrols in the house and set on fire from outside, locals alleged.
Hearing the screams, locals rushed to the spot and whisked the trio off to Jhenidah Sadar Hospital where Shafin and Amin died immediately, said Dr Ataur Rahman, a duty doctor of the hospital.
Later, Mahim who suffered 90 per cent burns succumbed to his injuries immediately after doctors referred him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), said Tozammel Haque, officer-in-charge (OC) of Shailkupa police station.
The OC added that they picked up Iqbal and was interrogating him in connection with the incident. Sailkupa Fire Service and Civil Defense Station Manger Mustafizur Rahman said, they had recovered three from the spot. There was a smell of petroleum like materials on the spot. It might be petrol or gas, he said.
Sailkupa municipality mayor Kazi Ashraful Azam and upazila parishd chairman Mosharraf Hossain Sikder visited the bodies and the family and expressed their deep shock to the family members.
