A Dhaka court on Wednesday issued arrest warrant against six people, including Sohel Rana’s mother, in the case filed under the Building Construction Act for the murder of more than 1,100 people in the collapse of Rana Plaza building of Savar.
Dhaka’s Senior Judicial Magistrate Shahin Rahman passed the order on Wednesday afternoon, taking into cognizance the charge sheet of the case.Sohel’s mother Morzena Begum, former Chief Executive Officer of Savar Municipality Uttom Kumar Rai, former Engineer Mahbubur Rahman of the municipality and three others have been named in the list of the warrant.
The court fixed August 18 for the submission of the compliance report of the arrest warrant. The court did not accept the charge sheet of the murder case filed in connection with the collapse of the building as the names of four accused were not included in the charge sheet.
The concerned ministry is yet to give permission to include their names. As they are government officials government permission is necessary to include them in the charge sheet. The court also ordered the ministry concerned to give the permission to include the names of the accused government officials in the charge sheet.
At least 1,135 people, mostly workers of the readymade clothing factories were killed and over 2,500 people were injured in the deadliest building collapse in the country’s history on April 24, 2013. At least 2,458 people were rescued from the rubble.
Two cases were filed over the incident, one under the Penal Code while the other under Building Construction Act. A day after the collapse, Rajuk official Helaluddin filed a case against Sohel Rana, owner of the Rana Plaza, for structural flaws in the building and for constructing it with sub-standard materials and also for violation of building code.
The police of Savar Police Station filed another case while and the family member of a victim filed the other case against Rana, his father and owners of the five factories housed in the building. – Special Representative
