A group of miscreants set fire to the village home of Anisul Islam Mahmud, chairman of a faction of the Jatiya Party, in Hathazari upazila of Chattogram late on Friday night.
According to police, the incident occurred around 11:45pm in the Gumanmardan area.
No family members, including Anisul Islam Mahmud, were present at the house at the time of the attack.
Eyewitnesses said a group of people arrived at the residence on motorcycles, a Hiace vehicle, and on foot, vandalised the property, and set it ablaze.
Additional Superintendent of Police (Hathazari Circle) Kazi Md Tarek Aziz said police rushed to the scene after receiving information. The miscreants fled after local residents came out. The fire service team extinguished the blaze. No casualties have been reported.
The attack comes amid a political split within the Jatiya Party. On 9 August, taking advantage of a temporary court injunction against Chairman GM Quader, Anisul Islam Mahmud, Ruhul Amin Howlader, and several senior leaders held a separate ‘Oikya Sammelan’ and broke away from the main party.
Later, leaders including Kazi Firoz Rashid and Abu Hossain Babul from the Rowshan Ershad-led Jatiya Party joined the faction.
On 8 December, the Anisul Islam-led Jatiya Party, together with the Anwar Hossain Manjur-led JP, launched a 20-party alliance called the National Democratic Front (NDF), with Anisul Islam Mahmud serving as its chairman.
