Two Hindu houses set on fire in Bangladesh, narrow escape for families

DHAKA: The homes of two expatriate Hindu families were set on fire in Raozan in Bangladesh’s Chittagong early on Tuesday after attackers locked the families inside, officials said, adding eight people narrowly escaped the flames.

It is the sixth incident of arson targetting the minority community in five days in the area. The residents said they woke up as smoke started filling their houses, but were unable to escape as the doors were locked from the outside. “We escaped by cutting through tin roof and bamboo fencing,” one of them said. The incident took place between 3.15am and 4am in Sultanpur village, the officials said.The incident is likely to further strain ties between India and Bangladesh, already frayed due to Dipu Chandra Das’s lynching in Mymensingh last week.Raozain police station in-charge Sajedul Islam told reporters that the two houses belonged to Sukh Shil and Anil Shil. He added that the incident followed the pattern of previous attacks in Dheuapara on Saturday and three houses in Keotia on Friday. In each of these incident, miscreants locked the doors from outside at night while the people were asleep, the officer said.