A massive blaze in a one-storey house at Notungeet village near Bolpur in West Bengal’s Birbhum district claimed three lives in the early hours of Friday. The deceased include Sheikh Abdul Alim, his wife Rupa Bibi, and their four-year-old son. Locals and bereaved relatives of the family suspect foul play and claim that the house was deliberately set on fire.
Mr. Alim passed away in a local hospital on Saturday morning, while Ms. Bibi and her son were declared dead at Bardhaman Medical College and Hospital on Friday.
The deceased couple’s older son, Sheikh Raj, told media persons on Friday that he was sleeping in a different room and that he realised the house was on fire at around 1.20 a.m. on Friday, when he heard his parents screaming. “I woke up and saw the house engulfed in flames. I tried saving my brother, but there wasn’t a single drop of breathable air in the house, instead there was a pungent gas,” Mr. Raj said, sobbing profusely. He added that there was kerosene around his parents’ bed.
“I know who did this. That person had come to our house that night but he hasn’t been around since morning. I know who he is, but I can’t share his name,” Mr. Raj said. He alleged that kerosene was poured into the house through one of the windows and then the house was set on fire. “This person is not related to us,” he clarified.
According to relative Sheikh Uzir, the deceased were not involved in political activities and their livelihood was based on family business. He reiterated the bereaved son’s claims, that kerosene was poured into the house and the smell of the oil is still lurking in the remains.
Local Trinamool leader Kajal Sheikh told the media that the family was innocent and was not known to have had any disputes with other villagers. “The investigation is ongoing, and any perpetrators would be dealt with by law,” he added.
This incident brings back memories from March 2022, when a blaze took multiple lives in Bogtui Crossing near Birbhum’s Rampurhat after local Trinamool leader Bhadu Sheikh lost his life in an alleged bombing. At least ten people died after multiple houses were allegedly set on fire in the area following Mr. Sheikh’s death. An investigation into this incident by the Central Bureau of Investigation is ongoing.
