The former captain of the Bangladesh cricket team, Mashrafe Mortaza’s residence was set on fire by protesters amidst the current turmoil in the country, where students are being apprehended and fired upon by police and security forces.
The demonstrators directed their ire at Mortaza, a Member of Parliament with the governing Awami League party, for his silence on the “slaughters and widespread arrests of students” in Bangladesh. Images depict his home being defaced and ignited by rioters.
Both the District Awami League office and the residence of party President Subash Chandra Bose were also set ablaze by the crowd.
Mortaza led the Bangladesh team in 117 matches across various formats, a record for the country. During his extensive cricketing career, he took 390 international wickets and scored 2,955 runs across 36 Tests, 220 One Day Internationals, and 54 Twenty20 Internationals.
After retiring, he entered politics in 2018, joining the Awami League led by Hasina, and was elected as an MP for the Narail-2 constituency.
The crisis intensified on Monday when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country in the wake of the protests.
Footage of her official residence being ransacked and overrun has spread widely on social media.
The house of Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, located in Dhanmondi, Dhaka, was also allegedly set on fire.
Hasina arrived at Hindon Airbase in the Delhi NCR and is expected to depart for London from India. Following her departure, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, the Chief of the Bangladesh Army, confirmed her resignation and stated that a provisional government would soon be established.
