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Representational image.

A group of protesters set fire to the house of former MP and suspended Awami League district general secretary Nizam Uddin Hazari in Feni town on Monday night.

The incident took place at about 8:00pm in the Masterpara area, shortly after the International Crimes Tribunal announced the death sentence of Sheikh Hasina.


According to witnesses, the protesters set fire to the gate and boundary wall of the house.

The building had already been destroyed during earlier attacks, so no new major damage was reported.

The protesters chanted slogans demanding punishment for Hazari and others.

They gathered wooden sticks and bamboo in front of the main gate and set them alight, though no one managed to enter the house.

Muhaymin Tajim, former coordinator of the Students Against Discrimination in Feni, said, ‘The administration has failed to take legal action over previous incidents of arson carried out by Awami League activists, including the attack on the July Martyrs’ Memorial. This inaction is encouraging repeated incidents. We are on the streets to resist it.’

He demanded quick trials for those who attacked students in Feni, similar to the tribunal verdict against Sheikh Hasina.

Another former coordinator, Omar Faruk, said that the attack on Hazari’s house was a response to the arson at the July Memorial.

He also added that a similar verdict should be delivered against Nizam Hazari and also against Shushen.

Shushen is the convener of the Feni municipality unit of the Awami League and a former upazila chairman.

Earlier in the evening, protesters vandalised and defaced nameplates carrying photos and names of Awami League leaders near the Feni Government College gate.

Md Shamsuzzaman, officer-in-charge of Feni Model Police Station, said, ‘Police rushed to the spot after receiving reports of the fire and fire service teams extinguished the flames in front of the house. The situation is now under control. Only the gate was slightly burnt. There was no major damage.’

The same house was attacked, looted and burnt on August 5 last year.

Earlier on Monday, the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death for genocide committed during the July–August uprising.