Arsonists have set fire to a local office of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its associate organisations in Tanore Upazila under Rajshahi district, reducing the interior furniture and fixtures to ashes.
The incident took place during the early hours of Tuesday, 10 November, in Azizpur village, situated within Ward No. 9 of Kalma Union. Local residents reported seeing flames engulfing the small party outpost before alerting the emergency services. Fire Service and Civil Defence personnel rushed to the venue shortly after receiving the call and managed to douse the blaze, preventing it from spreading to adjacent properties.
The office had been established in a rented single-storey brick shop premises, serving as a hub for local political meetings and grassroots organisational activities for Ward No. 9. Taking advantage of the late-night darkness, unidentified miscreants set the structure alight before fleeing the scene undetected.
Upon receiving news of the sabotage, Tanore Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Naima Khan visited the location on Tuesday morning to assess the extent of the damage and oversee preliminary administrative inquiries.
Local party leaders expressed strong indignation over the attack. Motaleb Hossain, Member Secretary of the Upazila unit of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD)—the student wing of the BNP—alleged that elements affiliated with the ousted Awami League regime were behind the arson. He claimed that banned political groups are actively trying to incite chaos and instability across the country through sporadic acts of violence and property destruction.
Police have commenced a formal investigation into the arson. Mahmudul Hasan, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Tanore Police Station, confirmed that officers inspected the crime scene early in the day and collected physical evidence. He assured the public that a thorough inquiry is underway to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice under the applicable laws of the land.
Political tensions and localized skirmishes have flared across various rural pockets of Bangladesh in recent months, with party offices and local headquarters frequently becoming targets of nocturnal vandalism and incendiary attacks. Police patrols in and around the Kalma Union area have been intensified to maintain law and order following the event.
