‘Shibir men’ set school ablaze in Feni

Activists of the Islami Chhatra Shibir, student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, have allegedly set fire to a school building at the Sadar Upazila in Feni district for having been stopped from doing union work in school about a month back.

They poured petrol and torched the Paschim Bijoy Singha High School at Panchgachia Union Council in the early hours of on Wednesday.

Fire fighters managed to put out the blaze after battling the fire for some time.

With the entire school gutted, some 400 students have been cast into uncertainty regarding their daily classes and half-yearly examinations.

The school’s headmaster Belal Hossain said that the five classrooms, a library, and the office had been reduced to ashes.

Some 120 pairs of benches, 2,200 textbooks, three laptops, two computers, two almirahs, five showcases, a video projector, sound system, furniture, and important documents were also destroyed.

He said that the police, on March 31, had prevented the school’s tenth-grade students ‘Emon’ and ‘Rahi’ from creating trouble over student admissions and doing Shibir’s organisational work in the school.

The school governing committee got the two boys released from the police station the next day following requests by their guardians.

The teacher said that the extent of loss caused by the fire was about Tk 3 million.

Feni district unit Shibir President Jahid Hossain denied the involvement of any their leaders and activists in the incident.

Rahi, though, is the Shibir President of Paschim Bijoy Singha ward, while Emon is the Paschim Bijoy Singha High School unit Shibir President.

Feni Sadar Upazila UNO PKM Enamul Karim said a makeshift arrangement would be made with the help of the local public representatives, including the DC and Upazila chairman, for holding classes.

Feni Model Police Station OC Mahbub Morshed told bdnews24.com that the school headmaster had filed a written complaint.

“We’ll try to arrest the culprits soon after an investigation into the incident,” he said.

The district’s deputy commissioner, Upazila chairman, Upazila executive officer (UNO), municipality mayor, local union council chairman and the officials of the police and RAB went to the spot.