A Trinamul Congress worker’s house was set afire near Islampur in North Dinajpur district on Sunday night while he and the family were away for a wedding.

Bimal Das’s concrete house is located in Natunpara village.

“We suspect BJP supporters were behind the attack. Windowpanes were broken and petrol was sprinkled inside the house. Police should arrest the arsonists immediately,” said Chandan, Bimal’s nephew.

A fire engine from Islampur and a police team rushed to the spot. The blaze was doused after some time.

Zakir Hossain, the Islampur block president of Trinamul, and party leaders also reached the village. “As our candidates won in the area in the panchayat elections, the BJP is trying to foment tension and organising unprovoked attacks. We hope police will crack the case soon,” he said.

The BJP said the party had nothing to do with the arson.

“Infighting is acute in Trinamul in Islampur. The local MLA (Abdul Karim Chowdhary) has time and again raised his voice against the block president. We suspect the incident is the fallout of the factional feud in Trinamul. After such incidents, Trinamul leaders are raising baseless charges against us,” Surajit Sen, a district vice-president of the BJP, said.

Son arrested

The son and the daughter-in-law of Burhan Murmu, the 63-year-old BJP worker who had been found hanging at his house in Malda district on Sunday morning, were arrested.

Murmu, a resident of Madnabati panchayat under the jurisdiction of Bamangola police station, had campaigned against Sharmila Mardi, his daughter-in-law who had contested as a Trinamul candidate in a panchayat seat.

The BJP had alleged that Murmu had been murdered by his son Biplab and Sharmila and the body hung to make it look like a suicide.

Police arrested the couple on Sunday night from neighbouring Kuchiadanga village.

“We need to interrogate the deceased’s son and daughter-in-law to gather more information,” said a police officer.