A Dhaka court has fixed September 3 for the hearing on charge framing in the Tazreen fire case against 13 accused, including Tazreen Fashions managing director Delwar Hossain.
Judge SM Quddus Zaman of Dhaka District and Sessions Judge’s Court deferred the hearing on charge framing, for the second time, yesterday after the prosecution sought more time to prepare for the hearing on the petitions submitted by the defence.
The defence counsels had submitted petitions before the court seeking discharge of the accused from the charges.
The court took the charge sheet against 13 accused, including Delwar and his wife Mahmuda Aktar who was also the chairman of Tazreen Fashions, into congnisance on June 16.
The rest of the accused – Dulal Uddin, Hamidul Islam, Al Amin-1, Anisur Rahman, Rana, Al Amin-2, Shamim Miah, Mahbubul Morshed, Mobarak Hossain Manju, Abdur Razzak and Shahiduzzaman – were all top officials and staff at the RMG factory.
The last four accused are still on the run, while the others are on bail.
The fire at Tazreen Fashions – dubbed as the worst industrial fire in the country’s history – killed at least 112 workers, mostly women, and injured scores of others on November 24, 2012.
On December 22, 2013, Inspector AKM Mohsinuzzaman Khan of the Criminal Investigation department (CID) submitted a charge sheet bringing homicide charges against the 13 accused in the case.
According to the charge sheet, Delwar and his wife constructed the building following a faulty plan and illegally used the ground-floor walkway as a warehouse.
Managers and security guards were charged as they forcefully kept the workers inside the building even after fire alarms went off and smoke was seen billowing out from the spot that caught fire.
Two cases were filed in connection with the incident. One was filed by police with Ashulia police station, accusing 15 staff members of negligence leading to murder.
The second case was filed against Delwar and 30 others on May 29 with Dhaka Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court by Abdul Matin, brother of a missing worker named Rehana.