A fire broke out at the Manikganj residence of artist Manabendra Ghosh, who made the tiger motif for the Borsho Boron Ananda Shobhajatra, early today.

Manebendra told The Daily Star that the fire had broken out around 2:30am destroying his semi-concrete house in Garpara union and destroyed 30 of his sculptures. He said the fire had also gutted all the belongings in the house.

Manabendra said, "The day before Pahela Baishakh, a (Facebook) page called 'Rajya Sabha' spread a misleading information about me saying that i had created the motif of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's caricature as the face of fascism."

Manabendra says that he had created the motif of a tiger that was part of the Ananda Shobhajatra.

"After the police came to know about the matter, they contacted me and inquired about my safety."

He said fire had broken out in an outer room of the house and spread from there. "Upon receiving the news, the police and fire service members quickly came and brought the fire under control."

But that was not soon enough as all of Manabendra's sculptures have been destroyed. "All the sculptures I had created since my training time and all the furniture in the house, were damaged by then," he added.

Additional police superintendent of Manikganj Sadar, Mohammad Salauddin said that on April 13, a campaign was launched through a page called 'Rajya Sabha' saying that Manabendra had fashioned the face of Sheikh Hasina like a monster."

"Manabendra filed a general GD with Manikganj Sadar Tana. Since then, the police have been keeping an eye on his security. But yesterday around 2:30am, someone set fire to the house. Upon receiving the news, we reached the spot and have now started legal proceedings," he said

Earlier, quoting Manikganj's police superintendent Yasmin Khatun, the chief adviser's press wing shared information on Facebook that a police team had already visited the site and that the investigation is underway.

"Swift action will be taken against those responsible if arson is detected," the superintendent is quoted to have said according to the press wing.

It also said that Manikganj Deputy Commissioner Monwar Hossain Molla confirmed that the district administration would take necessary steps to rebuild the damaged house on its own initiative, in addition to determining the cause of the fire.

Following the incident, Cultural Affairs Adviser Mostafa Sarwar Farooki expressed deep concern. In a statement on his verified Facebook page today, he said law enforcers were already taking acting to identify and arrest those involved in the fire.

"Police have started work to detain everyone who attacked the house of artist Manabendra Ghosh. We spoke to the home affairs adviser and he has given clear instructions to the IG of police," wrote Farooki.

He alleged that the "attack" was incited by individuals linked to a faction of the Awami League. "For the past few days, the Awami League ousted in July, has been inciting the attack on artist Manabendra Ghosh online for, they say, 'making an effigy of a Hasina'! Each of them will be brought under the law," he stated.

Farooki also said that the attack is an attempt to disrupt national harmony during a time of celebration and unity.

"From the hills to the plains, Bangladesh has just concluded an unprecedented festival of friendship. A different kind of feeling is in everyone's mind. And at this time, they attacked and reminded us that July is still ongoing. But they don't know that the people of Bangladesh are moving forward with July in their hearts, they are insignificant in front of the unity of the people of Bangladesh," he added.