Tazreen Fashions Limited Managing Director Delwar Hossain and his wife Mahmuda Akter Mita, also chairman of the garment factory, were sent to jail yesterday after the couple surrendered to a Dhaka court seeking bail.
Senior Judicial Magistrate Tazul Islam rejected the bail petitions and sent them to jail after a hearing.
Earlier in the day, the duo surrendered before the court and sought bail through their counsel in a case filed over the fire incident of November 24, 2012 when over 111 workers had been killed at the factory in Nishchintapur in Ashulia.
Defence counsel ATM Golam Gaus in the hearing said the Delwar and Mahmuda had not been made accused in the FIR listed since they were not involved in the incident. He also mentioned that over 15,000 workers of Toba group, owned by Delwar, would face problems and the country would incur loss if Delwar was denied bail.
One of the 11 accused in the case, Security In-charge Anisur Rahman’s lawyer Shakhawat Hossain also filed a bail petition yesterday morning. But the court rejected his bail plea.
Shakhawat told the court that they had built the factory following all the government proceedings and that none of the related government agencies had found any glitches.
Public prosecutor of the Dhaka’s Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court Anowarul Kabir Babul opposed the bail plea mentioning that they had been the main accused in the case, and that the incident happened because of their negligence.
After the hearing, some activists chanted slogans outside the courtroom demanding proper trail of the accused for the “murders.” One of them, Saydia Gulrukh, an anthropologist, was among three individuals who appealed to the High Court for the trial of the factory owner and demanded proper compensation for the victims.
While the judge was delivering order, Delwar was seen crying in the dock. Son of the accused, Md Tahsin Hossain, 7, also burst into tears.
On December 31 last year, a Dhaka court issued arrest warrants against six fugitives accused, including Delwar and his wife, a year after the devastating fire that drew attention of people at home and abroad
Senior Judicial Magistrate Wasim Sheikh issued the warrants after taking into cognisance the charge sheet filed against 13 people. The court also ordered the investigation officer and Ashulia police station to submit a report before the court explaining whether the fugitive people were arrested or not by February 25.
Investigator AKM Mohosin-uz Zaman Khan, also a CID inspector, pressed the charges on December 22. The prosecution would produce 104 witnesses in the case, the IO said.
If the charges are proved, the accused may be punished with a maximum of life imprisonment, or minimum five years’ rigorous imprisonment.
According to the charges, at 7pm on November 24, the workers were leaving the factory building hearing fire alarm. But they could not pass the main gate as it was locked. The police report says the owner of the factory built poorly constructed exits that led to such a high casualty.
The charge sheet says the police did not find evidence to implicate former Tazreen chairman Abdul Kuddus, APM Sohel Rana and Cutting Master Sujan Hawladar in the case.
The fugitive accused are Factory Manager Abdur Razzaq, Quality Control Manager Shahiduzzaman Dulal, Engineer M Mahabubul Morshed and Production Manager Mobarak Hossain Manju.
The remaining seven are Administrative Officer Dulal, Security-in-Charge Anisur Rahman, Security Supervisor Al-Amin, Store-in-Charge Hamidul Islam Lavlu and Al-Amin, loader Shamim Miah and security guard Rana alias Anwarul. Of them, all but Anisur are on bail.
Another petition case was filed by victim Rehana’s brother Abdul Matin on April 29 last year.
On October 11 last year, several hundred workers of five factories of Tuba Group, of which Tazreen Fashions is a sister concern, kept Delwar confined inside a factory in the capital’s Badda for the whole day demanding wages and Eid bonus due for three months. He was later released when the authorities started paying the workers’ Eid bonus. The workers also protested a decision of selling some machines of the factories.
A home ministry probe committee formed in late 2012 said they had found “unpardonable neglect” on the part of the owner and that the incident might have been “subversive.”
Later, talking to media, Delwar ruled out his responsibility in connection with the fire and claimed himself innocent. He said the law enforcers had not arrested him as there were no specific charges against him.
