Arson at minority house: Police yet to record a case

Police has yet to accept a case in connection with an arson attack on the house of a couple belonging to Hindu community in Berpanga village under Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila.

Unidentified miscreants allegedly set the house of one Sunil Chandra Barman on fire on March 20 when the couple was not at the house.

Police said they are still investigating the complaint lodged by Sunil and would take legal action if the complaint is deemed true.

"My husband, who works as a mason, went to Dhaka for work. I went to my father's house with my 18-month-old son. In our absence, miscreants set fire to our house," said Surabhi Rani, 21, Sunil's wife.

"There were our belongings including furniture, as well as several maunds of rice inside the house. All are burnt to ashes. We are spending nights under the open sky," she added.

Malek Sarkar, son of Khejo Mahmud from the same village, has been accused of setting the house on fire.

"I came out of the house to work for processing tobacco on Wednesday [March 20] dawn and saw Surabhi's house on fire. I also saw Malek at the scene. He noticed me and quickly ran away," said Bepula Rani, 55, a neighbour.

Sunil said he lodged a complaint with Lalmonirhat Sadar Police soon after the incident. "But the police station have declined to record my complaint as a case," he added.

 "They(Police) have visited the spot and investigated, but have not yet taken any legal actions for unknown reason," he said.

"Malek borrowed Tk 1,20,000 from me but is dillydallying over repaying the money. We had an altercation recently when he threatened to harm me. He must have set my house on fire," Sunil alleged.

Contacted, Malek Sarkar said that he had borrowed money from Sunil, but claimed that he neither set Sunil's house on fire nor threatened to harm him.

Omar Faruk, officer-in-charge of Lalmonirhat Sadar Police Station., said, "This is a sensitive issue. We are investigating the incident. We'll definitely record the case if there is merit to the complaint."