A terrible tragedy in the history of the country was the Rana Plaza collapse in Savar. The incident that shook the world beyond the boundaries of the country.
After that incident, foreigners also spoke about the safety of workers in Bangladesh’s garment industry. This terrible accident happened on April 24, 2013, in which 1 thousand 136 people lost their lives.
A decade has passed since then. Even at this time, the trial of the incident was not over.
The trial of the main case in the incident began in 2022 after being adjourned for nearly six years by the order of the High Court. After that, the trial got some speed, but the main accused in the case, Sohel Rana, the owner of the building, got bail from the High Court.
However, he has not yet been released as that bail has been suspended in the Appellate Division.
In connection with the Rana Plaza collapse, a total of four cases were filed in the names of the building owner Sohail Rana, his family, the then mayor of Savar Municipality, among others. Of these, the police filed one case as plaintiff, the Capital Development Authority (RAJUK) one and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed two cases. Among them, the judgment in two cases of the ACC has been passed, but the testimony in the murder case is ongoing. On the other hand, due to the moratorium, testimony has been held up for eight years in the building law violation case filed by Rajuk.
Motions to take evidence in murder cases eg
The then Sub-Inspector (SI) of Savar Police Station, Wali Ashraf, first filed a case of ‘negligent and culpable homicide’ in the building collapse incident. On April 26, 2015, CID Assistant Superintendent of Police Vijay Krishna filed a charge sheet against Kar Bhavan owner Sohel Rana and 41 people in this case. In the charge sheet, Rana has been accused of murder under Section 302 of IPC.
On July 18, 2016, Dhaka District and Sessions Judge SM Quddus Zaman ordered the trial to begin by framing charges against the accused. Among the 41 accused in the Rana Plaza collapse murder case, only building owner Sohail Rana is currently in jail. Sohail Rana’s father Abdul Khalek, Abu Bakr Siddique and Abul Hussain died among the accused. Farooq Ahmed, one of the lawyers of the accused said that the rest are on bail.
After filing the complaint in this case, eight people including the then mayor of Savar municipality Refayet Ullah and the then councilor Mohammad Ali Khan filed an appeal in the high court seeking cancellation of the case. In their favor, a ruling was issued suspending the proceedings of the case. The process of taking evidence in the case got stuck due to the suspension of the High Court.
The suspension of the other accused except Mohammad Ali Khan was revoked. Five and a half years after the complaint was made, on January 31, 2022, testimony began in the court of Dhaka District and Sessions Judge AHM Habibur Rahman Bhuiyan.
In the last two years, 84 out of 594 witnesses have testified in the case, according to the lawyer of the state, Additional Public Prosecutor of the District and Sessions Judge Court of Dhaka, Bimal Samaddar. He said that on April 21, District and Sessions Judge of Dhaka Md. Four testified in Helal Uddin’s court. The next hearing is scheduled for April 28.
When asked when he expects the trial of the case to be over, the lawyer for the state, Additional Public Prosecutor of the District and Sessions Judge’s Court, Bimal Samaddar, told Banglanews that the trial of the case was suspended by the order of the High Court for about six years. Approximately 84 witnesses have testified in the two years since the commencement of the taking of evidence. The date is happening every month. We are issuing court summons to every 10-15 witnesses. Many witnesses are not available. Although they were given their present address at the time of the case, they are not staying at that address now. Many are unable to come to court as they are sick and crippled. Yet at least five to seven witnesses testify on each date. No one is being turned away when the witness comes.
He also said that the number of witnesses in this case is 594. Normally it will take some time to complete the trial. However, we have no lack of sincerity to finish the case from the state side. We are trying our best to finish quickly. I hope to complete the testimony within the time given by the High Court.
Sohail Rana’s bail in High Court, later suspended
Meanwhile, Sohel Rana, the owner of Rana Plaza, got bail from the High Court due to the delay in the trial. On April 6 last year, the High Court bench of Justice Akram Hossain Chowdhury and Justice Shahed Noor Uddin granted his bail. On March 6, 2022, the High Court issued a ruling on his bail. That rule (absolute) was declared proper and his bail was granted. Although last year on April 9, the Chamber Justice of the Appellate Division. Abu Jafar Siddiqui suspended the bail order. In this case on January 15, the Appellate Division suspended his bail and ordered the case to be settled within six months.
Building Act case pending for 8 years
After the collapse of Rana Plaza, the building was constructed without complying with the building construction law. Helal Uddin filed a case in Savar police station. On April 26, 2015, CID Assistant Superintendent of Police Vijay Krishna filed a charge sheet in the court accusing 18 people including Sohel Rana, the owner of Kar Bhavan.
On June 14, 2016, the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Dhaka, Mostafizur Rahman, framed charges against the accused and ordered the trial to begin. Challenging the order of framing of complaint, some accused filed a revision application in the District and Sessions Judge Court of Dhaka. In which the revision application of New Web Bottoms Limited Managing Director Bajlus Samad and former Assistant Engineer Mahbubur Rahman has been rejected.
On the other hand, the chairman of Phantom Apparels Limited, Muhammad Aminul Islam, has been dismissed after allowing the revision. Apart from this, on November 7, 2021, the High Court issued a stay on the case on behalf of the accused Refait Ullah. Additional Public Prosecutor Anwarul Kabir Babul of Dhaka’s Chief Judicial Magistrate Court said that the District and Sessions Judge had summoned the court documents for taking testimony together with the murder case on November 19 last year.
When asked about the latest status of the case, Additional Public Prosecutor of the District and Sessions Judge’s Court Bimal Samaddar said that the taking of testimony has not started due to the stay order in the High Court on behalf of all the accused in this case. We will negotiate with the Attorney General’s Office and take steps to lift the suspension.
ACC verdict in two cases
After the arrest of Sohail Rana, ACC filed three cases against him and his family members. Rana was sentenced to three years in prison on August 29, 2017 in a non-submission case related to non-submission of assets. In this case, he was sentenced to another three months in prison without paying a fine of 50 thousand taka.
Meanwhile, on March 29, 2018, the owner of Rana Plaza, Sohel Rana’s mother, Morjina Begum, was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in a case filed by the ACC on the charge of obtaining wealth beyond known income and giving false information. In addition to the prison sentence, the court confiscated his assets worth 66.67 lakh 66 thousand 990 taka.
On April 24, 2013, the Rana Plaza building in Savar collapsed around 9 am. One thousand 136 dead bodies were recovered in that incident. About two thousand workers were injured and crippled. Two thousand 438 people were rescued alive.
According to the incident report in the CID chargesheet in the murder case, on April 23, 2013, at 9:30 am, cracks appeared in the pillars and walls of the third floor of the Rana Plaza building in Savar. BGMEA officials came to Rana Plaza building after receiving the news. Garment owners are advised to stop all activities until the building is inspected by BUET experts.
But the five garment owners and their men forced the workers to join work the next day on April 24. Joining this, Sohel Rana said, ‘Rana Plaza will not collapse even in the next 100 years. ‘
There were five garment factories in the commercial building. Electric heavy generators, heavy swing machines are installed in these factories. The day before the Rana Plaza collapse, cracks appeared on the third floor of the building. But the owner did not immediately declare the building abandoned and opened five garment factories the next day. On the day of the incident, at 9 am, the power suddenly went out in Rana Plaza. At the same time, the garment factories started three generators. Just then, the Rana Plaza building collapsed with a loud noise and turned into a mortuary.
