Locals whisper as to what went on at the imposing house in South Chhayabithi posh area visited by Mamun and many top-level officials, who come in luxurious cars, once or twice a month and hold nightlong parties.

"We felt something ominous going on inside since we know Mamun as a sidekick of Tarique Rahman and an alleged significant player in the control of different industries, postings, transfers and contracts," a local shopkeeper said.

Two platoons of police guard the imposing house, now being renovated, round the clock since the May 7 killing of Awami League legislator Ahsanullah Master in a roadside rally in Tongi and do not let local residents to go near the house.

"Sir (Mamun) has ordered us not to let even reporters in," Shahabuddin, caretaker of the house, told this correspondent yesterday.

Mysteriously, neither Mamun nor any Khwab official lodged any complaint for the damage to the building.

Although several hundred people attacked the house in an impromptu protest after Ahsanullah's killing, Sub-Inspector of Joydevpur Police Station Zakir Hossain filed a case against 25 known and 300-400 unknown people.

This is a rare case of police moving into action on their own, without the victims' filing any case or lodging any complaint.

Asked who directed him to file the case, Zakir yesterday avoided the question and told The Daily Star, "Police wait for some time after any property is damaged to see whether the owner files any case. And if the owner fears to lodge a case, police themselves do it."

Immediately after the assassination of Ahsanullah, home ministry and police termed the killing as an outcome of internal feud and Zakir filed a case under Speedy Trial Act on the same day for rampage at Khwab without waiting for Mamun or his men.

Most accused men are activists of main opposition Awami League and its front organisations.

Asked about proactive police role in case filing, Officer-in-Charge of Joydevpur Police Station Akhtaruzzaman said, "We filed the case for vandalising not only Khwab, but also the BNP offices and 25 buses."

But the record shows otherwise: the case in question (number 10) is filed only for rampage at Khwab.

Asked about the probe, investigation officer of the case Badrul Alam said he arrested three people, all on Friday, but declined to give their names.

But AL President of Gazipur district Mozammel Haq said the police arrested over 200 AL members after May 7 and 16 for damage to Khwab.

Believed to be the second-in-command of ruling BNP's alternative powerhouse Hawa Bhaban, Mamun, locally known as Juboraj (prince), said: "I used to go to Khwab occasionally to pass vacation and let my foreign delegates use the top floor."

"It is not the common man who destroyed my house, but a section of the mob protesting Ahsanullah's killing attacked my house in a planned way. We have filmed the attack and police have filed a case accordingly," he told The Daily Star last night.

"Nobody from Chhayabithi community was involved in the attack. The attackers came from other places and took away what they could before setting the house afire," Mamun said, said it cost him Tk 8 to 10 lakh in lost property.

"It was 5:30pm that day when around 50 men hemmed in our house, came in scaling the boundary wall and carried out the rampage," the caretaker said.

"While escaping through the back exit, I saw many others rushing in to join the destruction."

The attackers with wooden sticks, rods and brickbats engaged in the destruction for over half-an-hour and left the house setting fire to furniture after dousing them with petrol, he said.

The ritzy house on road No. 4 in Chhayabithi that engineers estimate has taken about Tk 8 crore to build still stands out in the posh area, outshining surrounding modern buildings.

The attackers could only damage its fragile decoration and furniture.

"I don't understand why sir (Mamun) has spent so much money on this imposing house. He and his friends come here only once or twice a month," a domestic help said.

A few hundred workers toiled one and a half years to complete the three-storey house on eight kathas, about 2 km southeast of Gazipur town. Its walls are covered with specially made terracotta tiles and a large part of the first and second floors rest on two large steel-coated beams. The duplex house is centrally air-conditioned and full of foreign fittings.

"Entering through the wide entrance that displays awe-inspiring modern architecture, a visitor would be amazed to see two walls made of decorative glass, dazzling furniture in the drawing room and foreign fittings in the kitchen. All of them are now damaged," he said.

There is also a bedroom and a garage on the ground floor. A stone staircase with railings of steel and decorative glass leads a visitor to the first floor where there are four bedrooms, two kitchens and a large balcony.

Another stair runs to the second floor and the roof. There is a gallery and a small garden on the rooftop.

"The attackers vandalised and set fire to 20 sets of sofa, three refrigerators, two 34-inch television sets, fans and other furniture including almirahs, dining tables and cots," Shamsuddin said.

Tarique's school friend from Pirojpur, Mamun, who stays at Mohakhali DOHS, did not visit the house after the rampage. Some officials are supervising the renovations to the building.