Khaled Ahmed: A house was allegedly set on fire after being doused with petrol in Harinarayanpur village of Gayeshpur Union under Pabna Sadar upazila in the early hours of Thursday, leaving household belongings and stored agricultural produce completely destroyed.The incident occurred around 2am, according to the victim and his family.Abu Bakkar Pramanik, 80, son of the late Mahiruddin Pramanik of the village, alleged that a group of eight to 10 people, including his neighbours Shakil, son of the late Razzak, and Iqbal, son of the late Azizul Sheikh, poured petrol around their house and set it on fire before fleeing the scene.Abu Bakkar claimed that the incident was linked to longstanding enmity with the alleged perpetrators.He further alleged that Iqbal identifies himself as a close associate of Abu Saeed Chairman, who, according to the victim, is an accused in a murder case involving a student.The allegations, however, could not be independently verified.Abu Bakkar said his family had faced similar harassment in the past, including the alleged theft of cattle and cash from their home. He also claimed that they had been subjected to harassment through what he described as false cases.He said one of his sons had been unable to return home for nearly 20 years because of fears for his life. According to Abu Bakkar, his son had previously survived three alleged attempts on his life.The family's daughter-in-law, Hulia Khatun, 35, said her husband had sent Tk 200,000 from abroad just two days before the incident. The money was reportedly destroyed in the fire along with around 50 maunds of onions and eight maunds of jute.The family members were inside the house when the fire broke out. They, along with neighbours, initially tried to put out the flames but failed. Later, a team from the Fire Service and Civil Defence arrived and brought the blaze under control.By then, most of the household belongings and stored goods had been destroyed.No case had been filed with the police at the time of filing this report. Abu Bakkar said the family was discussing the matter with relatives before deciding on legal action, which was causing some delay in filing the case.Efforts were made several times to contact Iqbal and the other accused persons for their comments, but they could not be reached. Their version of the allegations was therefore unavailable.Meanwhile, Pabna District Special Branch (DSB) Sub-Inspector Helal visited the scene after receiving information about the incident.Contacted by phone, SI Helal confirmed that the house had indeed been damaged by fire. However, he said it would require an investigation to determine who was responsible for setting the fire.Police investigation is expected to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident and identify those responsible.