A fire broke out early Thursday (12 November 2026) at the ancestral tin-shed house of reserved-seat MP and National Citizen Party (NCP) Joint Convener Nusrat Tabassum in Bagoan village, Mathurapur union, Daulatpur upazila of Kushtia, roughly 7.4 km from the border.
The uninhabited structure, used mainly for storage and livestock, was damaged; two goats died. Her parents live in a separate three-storey building about 20 metres away.
In Parliament, after Opposition Chief Whip and NCP Convener Nahid Islam raised the issue, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed stated that preliminary findings point more strongly to an electrical short circuit.
He noted the house was old with weak wiring, and a photograph of the scene appeared consistent with a short-circuit.
Citing the BGB’s initial report, he said there was no report of a petrol-bomb-like explosion sound from locals or security forces, no marks on the walls, and no eyewitness accounts of such devices.
A joint investigation by BGB, Fire Service, civil administration and police is underway; a general diary has been filed. He cautioned that nothing is confirmed until the probe ends, and action will follow if sabotage is established. The Speaker called the incident serious and requested a swift report.
Political context and NCP allegations against Awami League
Nusrat Tabassum, a political science student and one of the key coordinators of the Students Against Discrimination movement during the 2024 July Uprising that forced the resignation of Sheikh Hasina and the fall of the Awami League government, is a prominent NCP leader. The NCP emerged from that movement and holds seats in the current parliament.
She and the NCP have strongly alleged a deliberate petrol-bomb attack intended as political intimidation. In Facebook posts and a press conference at the site, Nusrat said CCTV footage showed four consecutive blasts around 12:15–12:20 a.m., consistent with petrol bombs.
She claimed prior threats (including a call on 28 October and a threatening post from the Facebook account of the fugitive Kushtia district Chhatra League president hours before the fire), filed a GD in Dhaka, and described the incident as political sabotage with no personal enmity involved. The NCP Media Cell and leaders, including Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan, publicly blamed “Awami terrorists” or Awami League activists (whose party activities are restricted post-2024).
Nusrat stated she does not believe locals were responsible and that AL-linked people were celebrating online, adding that such tactics failed to silence them during the uprising and will not now. She has vowed to continue her work “even if I have to walk through fire.”
Police and the Home Minister have so far reported no physical evidence of petrol bombs. Local police described the structure as primarily a cattle/storage shed with flammable materials that helped the fire spread; neighbours helped contain it before Fire Service arrived. Damage reports vary slightly (five to seven rooms affected in some accounts). Investigation continues, with Rural Electrification Board checks also mentioned for possible electrical causes.
The episode has heightened political friction between the NCP (rooted in the anti-Awami League uprising) and remnants of the former ruling party’s networks, with the official preliminary assessment clashing with the opposition’s sabotage narrative.