A Narayanganj court has exonerated 11 out of the 14 accused in a case filed over the tragic deaths of 34 people in a launch capsize incident in the district last year.
Judicial Magistrate Shamsur Rahman passed the order on Wednesday taking the charges into cognisance against three accused.
Officer-in-Charge Asaduzzaman, an inspector of Narayanganj Court, said that the plaintiff had been given a notice asking if there were any objections to the charge sheet.
The court also fixed April 26 for further hearing in the case.
On April 4, 2021, passenger vessel “ML Sabit Al Hasan” capsized in the Shitalakshya River with nearly 50 passengers after colliding with a cargo ship named “SKL-3”.
A total of 34 people, including two children and 17 women, died in the tragic incident.
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Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Association (BIWTA) Deputy Director Babu Lal Vaidya filed the case with Bandar police station against 14 persons.
On December 9 last year, Sub-Inspector Mohammad Yunus Munshi of Narayanganj Sadar Naval Police submitted the charge sheet secretly against the three accused.
In the charge sheet, master of the cargo ship Ohiduzzaman, 50, Sukani Anwar Mallick, 40, and engine driver Md Majnu Mollah, 38, were named as accused.
Regarding the acquittal of the accused, Badiuzzaman Badal, senior vice-president of BIWTA, said that the owner of the cargo ship Sheikh Sarhan Naser Tanmoy, a ruling party lawmaker from Bagerhat-2 constituency, was left out from the charge sheet.
Accidents on the river routes in Narayanganj have been a commonplace nowadays.
On Sunday, another sunken-deck vessel, “ML Ashraf Uddin”, went under the Shitalakshya River after being hit from behind by a cargo vessel named "MV Rupshi-9".
Also Read- Sunken-deck Launch: Dangerous but allowed on busy routes
Rescuers recovered the bodies of 11 persons till Wednesday.
The BIWTA suspended for an indefinite period the movement of small sunken-deck launches on Narayanganj-Munshiganj route from Tuesday, causing immense suffering to commuters who prefer the route because of low cost.
Eight people of the cargo have been arrested and remanded in two cases filed over the incident.
On the other hand, the authorities have formed three separate probe bodies.