No evidence of electrical short circuit at MP Nusrat’s house: Palli Bidyut

The Palli Bidyut authorities have said they found no evidence of an electrical short circuit causing the fire at the village home of reserved-seat MP and National Citizen Party (NCP) leader Nusrat Tabassum in Daulatpur upazila of Kushtia.

The findings came after examining electrical wires, the meter and fuses recovered from the scene, according to the authorities.

Tojammel Haque, assistant general manager (AGM-O&M) of the Kushtia Palli Bidyut Samity’s Pragpur Sub-Zonal Office, confirmed the findings this afternoon (13 November).

He said no short circuit occurred in the power distribution line, which remained intact at the time of the incident.

“After receiving a call at our complaint centre, we immediately disconnected the electricity supply. Later, two linemen visited the house and recovered the electrical wires and meter. Upon examination, they found those intact,” he said.

Although the outer casing of the meter was burnt in the fire, no sign or evidence of a short circuit was found in its internal circuit, he added.

The cartridge fuses of the house’s main switch were also found intact, Tojammel said, noting that the fuses would normally have blown if an electrical short circuit had occurred.

He said the house had standard-rated fuses and no high-rated fuses were used.

Considering all these findings, there was no evidence to attribute the fire to an electrical short circuit, he added.

However, the actual cause of the fire has yet to be established.

Police, fire service officials, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), civil administration and other agencies are investigating the incident.

Delwar Hossain, Additional Superintendent of Police (Bheramara Circle) in Kushtia, said they had yet to reach any conclusion about how the fire broke out.

“Several agencies, including the Fire Service and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police, are investigating the incident. A decision will be made based on their joint findings,” he said.

Earlier, the fire broke out at around 11:45pm on Wednesday (11 November) at the village home of MP Nusrat Tabassum in Baguayan village under the Dangmorka area of Daulatpur upazila, damaging several rooms of the house.

Last night, the MP filed a case with Daulatpur Police Station, accusing unidentified people of attempting to kill her parents and other family members by setting fire to the house and causing an explosion.