Overview
- A person wearing dark clothing and a helmet is seen on CCTV smashing a front window and throwing a lit object into Imam Hassan Patel’s house, creating a large fireball that family and neighbours extinguished before fire crews arrived.
- Greater Manchester Police have launched an active arson investigation, say they believe the act was targeted, and have appealed for witnesses, CCTV and dashcam footage using log 3561 while no arrests have been reported.
- The homeowner, Imam Hassan Patel, and his family — who live at the address with four young children and a nephew — were uninjured but left shaken and are cooperating with police.
- Local leaders, mosques, unions and Bolton organisations have condemned the attack and offered support, and officers are carrying out reassurance visits and stepping up patrols around the neighbourhood.
- Reporting has linked the house attack to a separate mosque incident earlier that day and community figures warn the events have increased fear among Muslim families while urging a full probe of motives and swift police action.