On the night of February 20, 2019, a massive fire raged through several multi-story buildings in Churihatta of Chawkbazar. The fire that broke out at a chemical warehouse killed 71 people and injured scores more.
Four years have elapsed since the incident took place in Old Dhaka but the victims of the Churihatta fire tragedy and their family members are still waiting to get justice.
Md Asif, a resident of Chawkbazar and the son of Jummon, who was killed in the fire, had filed a case against 10 to 12 unknown people including Md Hasan Sultan and Md Hossain Sultan alias Sohel, the owner of Wahed Mansion, at Chawkabazar Model police station on the charge of causing massive damage including the loss of many lives due to negligence.
At present, the owners of Wahed Mansion located at Churihatta in Old Dhaka -- Md Hasan Sultan and Md Hossain Sultan alias Sohel – and owners of a chemical warehouse Imtiaz Ahmed, Mozammel Iqbal, Mozaffar Uddin, Md Jawad Atiq, Md Nabil Ahmed and Md Kashif Hossain are out on bail.
All of them got bail from the judicial court. On January 31, they appeared in court on the day of filing the complaint.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Abdul Qayyum of Chawkbazar police station, also the investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet to the Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court on February 15, 2022 after investigating the case.
The accused have been charged under sections 304, 427, 336 and 34 of the Penal Code.
Later, the case was sent to the Metropolitan Session Judge Court on March 28 of that year for trial.
Later, on September 22 of the same year, a hearing was held in Dhaka's 8th Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court regarding the formulation of the complaint.
Four months later, on January 31 this year, Dhaka's 8th Additional District and Sessions Judge Syeda Hafsa Jhuma rejected the acquittal plea of the accused. At the same time, it ordered the trial to begin by framing charges against the eight accused.
The court fixed March 13 for recording statement.
Md Asif, son of Jumman, said they want a fair trial. “Even after 4 years, the trial of the case is not over. We are waiting for the trial,” he said.
This young man claimed that the families of the victims of this accident did not get anything promised by the government.
"Out of the families of 71 victims, 26 people have been given jobs as cleaners. My brother was supposed to get a job within 15 days. But nothing happened. We have not received any financial support either,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mustafa Pathan Farooq, the lawyer of the two main defendants in the case, said there was no fire from the building of the defendants.
“A burst cylinder had caused the fire. The accused have lost their homes, lost their assets. Their mother was seriously injured in the accident and later died,” he said.
“Besides, they had permission from Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk). They also had business license from city corporation. Therefore, their business was legitimate. We will go to the High Court for the acquittal of the accused,” he added.
The lawyer of the state, Assistant Public Prosecutor Mazharul Haque said: “The chargesheet of the case has been filed. I will bring witnesses and try to finish the testimony quickly. I hope the trial of this case will be completed soon.”
