17 testify before district admin probe body
A total of 17 people, who witnessed the explosion that left 26 persons dead and some others injured in Narayanganj, yesterday described the incident before the probe body formed by the district administration.
Committee head Khadiza Tahera Boby, also additional district magistrate, confirmed it to The Daily Star.
"Our investigation is progressing. But we cannot say anything more for the sake of it," she added.
The public hearing started around 10am. But the probe body got poor response till noon. People started coming from 1pm and it continued till around 4pm.
The explosion happened at Pashchim Talla Baitus Salam Mosque in Narayanganj around 8:45pm after Isha prayers on September 4.
There has been a widespread allegation that the explosion was caused by gas leaked from the underground pipeline and accumulated in the ground floor of the mosque.
After the incident, the district administration formed a five-member probe body which is scheduled to submit its report by Thursday.
Meanwhile, locals said the blast could be avoided, if the mosque's management committee took quick measure to get the gas pipeline repaired.
They told this newspaper that they used to smell gas during prayers. They informed the matter to the management committee, but to no avail.
Now the committee is blaming Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company for not fixing the problem on time.
"If the committee shared the matter with others, they could go to Titas Gas office," said Bazlur Rahman, a grocer adjacent to the mosque.
"The committee general secretary Hannan Saud dealt with all financial issues of the mosque. But its president Abdul Gaffur was not happy with this. It created a distance between them," he added.
"Many of the committee members did not function properly due to such conflict, resulting in nonchalance among them to resolve the problem," said Bazlur.
Denying the allegations, mosque committee president Abdul Gaffur said, "I did not know that Titas people demanded Tk 50,000 to repair the gas pipeline. Only the general secretary himself knew it. So, how can we take initiative to solve it?"
Hannan Saud could not be contacted as he was also burnt in the explosion.
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