Published : 12 Nov 2026, 09:54 PM
Updated : 12 Nov 2026, 09:53 PM
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed’s remark that “two goats” lived in MP Nusrat Tabassum’s house sparked uproar in parliament, as National Citizen Party lawmakers protested his account of a fire at her family home in Kushtia district.
Replying to Opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam, Salahuddin said neither Nusrat nor her parents lived there. Her parents, he said, lived in a three-storey building 20m away.
“This house had two goats,” he said. Deputy Speaker Kayser Kamal asked NCP MP Hannan Masud to sit down and urged opposition lawmakers to let the minister finish.
Nahid had challenged the minister’s account, saying a video circulating on social media showed an object thrown from outside before the house burst into flames.
He said the building was not abandoned and housed a caretaker’s family and Nusrat’s relatives. People could have died, he said.
Nahid alleged that Nusrat had received phone threats and filed a general diary at a police station two days before the fire.
He accused the minister of shielding those responsible and demanded a deadline for identifying, arresting and prosecuting the attackers.
Salahuddin said he had spoken to officials and gathered evidence, including photographs of the walls, floor, wiring, lights and meter.
The fire broke out around 12:20am on Thursday in Daulatpur, 7.4km from the border, he said. Fire Service and law-enforcing personnel responded after a call to emergency helpline 999.
A committee comprising the fire service, civil administration, police and Border Guard Bangladesh has been formed to investigate. A general diary was filed on Nov 12, he said.
The minister said investigators had been asked to look for signs of a petrol bomb or deliberate attack.
He urged lawmakers not to blame anyone before the full inquiry was complete, saying investigators would establish whether it was sabotage or an accident.
