BNP office set ablaze in Bangladesh’s Rupganj days after party’s landslide election victory | World News

A local office of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj was allegedly set on fire in the early hours of Saturday, just a few days after the party’s landslide victory in the February 12 general elections, local media reported.

According to Rupganj Police Station Officer-in-Charge Shabzel Hossain, The Daily Star reported that the incident took place around 3.45 am in Shimulia Bazar area.

It was reported that unidentified miscreants broke a window of the office and threw “gasoline or a similar substance” inside before igniting the fire. While the police identified two people as suspects, the investigation continues.

Mansur Mia, president of Rupganj union Jubo Dal, said the office construction started about a month ago and was completed just a week ago. He noted that party leaders and activists stayed at the facility until midnight on Friday, and the fire broke out in the early hours of the morning.

Although furniture and other items in the office were damaged, residents helped extinguish the flames, The Daily Star reported.

Mansur Mia said, “We suspect that it was a gas bomb. Otherwise, the fire would not have spread so quickly.”

Amid speculations on the motive behind the attack, Upazila BNP General Secretary Bashir Uddin Bacchu suggested that those responsible could be members of rival political groups.

OC Shabzel Hossain said local BNP leaders were preparing to lodge a formal written complaint. “After the investigation into the complaint, the necessary legal action will be initiated,” he said.

The arson incident occurred shortly after the BNP, led by President Tarique Rahman, won an outright majority in the 300-seat parliament in the February 12 elections. The vote was the first general election since the 2024 mass protests that ousted longtime leader Sheikh Hasina.

Voter turnout was around 59%, positioning Rahman as the prime ministerial candidate. The Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami alliance emerged as the main opposition.

After the results were announced, BNP accepted the congratulatory message sent to X by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The party thanked Modi for recognizing Rahman’s leadership and reiterated its commitment to democratic values, inclusivity and progressive development and expressed hope for constructive relations with India.

Modi had earlier conveyed his warm congratulations to Rahman on X, expressed public confidence in his leadership and expressed India’s support for a democratic and progressive Bangladesh as well as hopes of strengthening bilateral ties.

Amid the political transition, the newly elected BNP-led government is scheduled to be sworn in at the South Plaza of the National Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.

According to Prothom Alo, the Chief Advisor of the interim government, Mohammed Yunus, invited leaders from 13 countries, including China, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Malaysia, Brunei, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan, to the oath ceremony.

BNP leader ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milan said on Saturday that he hoped Modi would get an invitation. He highlighted the party’s inclusive foreign policy of “friends to all, malice to none,” describing it as a matter of general courtesy to include regional leaders in such ceremonies.

With inputs from ANI…