A Dhaka Court yesterday denied bail to Tazreen Fashions Managing Director Delwar Hossain, who had been on the run since the devastating factory fire that killed at least 111 workers in 2012.
However, the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court of Dhaka granted one month’s conditional bail to Delwar’s wife Mahmuda Akter Mita, chairman of the company, on consideration that she had an ailing child.
The Tazreen boss and his wife surrendered on Sunday and were sent to jail after the court scrapped their bail pleas.
Yesterday, Mahmuda was awarded bail upon signing a Tk20,000 bond.
Earlier yesterday, Defence Lawyer ATM Golam Gous filed reconsideration bail petitions for both Delwar and Mahmuda.
In the petition, Mahmuda said she was just a housewife and one of her three kids was sick. She also said she was just a shareholder of the company and had nothing to do with the operations of Tazreen Fashions.
She claimed that she was only a victim of circumstances, saying none of the witnesses mentioned her name.
Public Prosecutor Anowarul Kabir Babul opposed the bail plea, saying Delwar and Mahmuda were the prime accused in the case and since the incident was a result of their negligence, none of them should be granted bail.
On December 31, 2013, a Dhaka Court issued arrest warrants against six fugitive accused, including Delwar and Mahmuda, a year after the tragic deaths of over 111 workers in the fire.
Investigation Officer AKM Mohosin Uzzaman Khan, also a CID inspector, pressed charges on December 22. The prosecution named 104 witnesses in the case.
Senior Judicial Magistrate Wasim Sheikh issued the warrants after taking the charge sheet against 13 people into cognisance.
The court also ordered the investigator and the police station concerned to submit a report by February 25 on the progress made in arresting the fugitive accused.