Saifullah told Prothom Alo, “At around 3:10 am, a kitchen at my house was set on fire, and there was an attempt to hack and set the main dwelling on fire. However, the fire in the residential house did not spread and was extinguished.”

When asked who might be responsible, Saifullah said he and his family had long been receiving threats from Bangladesh Chhatra League and Awami League activists.

“They have been threatening us in different ways for quite some time, and the threats had intensified recently. But it is not clear who exactly carried out the attack in the area. There were no direct threats from locals, but some fugitive Awami League activists from the area were issuing threats on Facebook over several recent issues,” he said.

Saifullah alleged that messages sent to him on WhatsApp and Messenger after the incident said, “We set your house on fire. Luckily you weren’t there—your children survived.”