A Dhaka court has placed Moniruzzaman Chowdhury, owner of a collapsed house in Rampura, on a five-day remand in a murder case filed over the deaths of 12 people in the tragic incident.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Zakir Hossain passed the order on Tuesday, rejecting the bail plea of the Jubo League leader.
Earlier in the day, the IO of the case, Rampura police station SI Julhas Mia, produced Moniruzzaman before the court with a 10-day remand plea.
Moniruzzaman was arrested from a house in the Tiprabazar area of Comilla around 5am Monday.
"Moniruzzaman built the house on illegally occupied land," said RAB 3 Commanding Officer Lt Col Golam Sarwar.
However, Moniruzzaman claimed he did not occupy the land illegally. He said he has legal documents of the land, which were submitted to the Rampura police station.
When asked why he submitted the documents, Moniruzzaman said: "The investigation officer in the collapsed house case asked my family members to submit the papers."
The RAB officer said Moniruzzaman is accused in three murder cases, two arms cases and several other cases filed over extortion and fighting.
At least 12 people, including four of a family, died when the two-storied house made of corrugated iron sheets collapsed into a water body in the capital’s Rampura on April 15.
Nearly 100 low-income people used to live in the poorly-built house that was erected using only bamboo poles over the muddy bed of the water-hyacinth-filled jheel, or water body, at Hajipara.
On April 16, a murder case was filed against Moniruzzaman. He has been on the run since then.