FR Tower Design Forgery: HC orders two Rajuk officials to surrender

The High Court yesterday directed two Rajuk officials to surrender before a lower court in six weeks in connection with a case filed for forgery over the design of FR Tower.

 A devastating fire in the 23-storey building in the capital’s Banani left at least 25 people dead and 73 others injured in March.

The two officials are Rajuk Inspector Aurangzeb Siddique Nannu and its Authorised Officer Md Nazrul Islam.

The Anti-Corruption Commission had filed the corruption case against the two and former Rajuk chairman KM Harun with Gulshan Police Station on October 7 last year.

According to the case statement, the three committed graft and forgery in connivance with each other to issue and approve an unauthorised design plan for FR Tower.

The building owner constructed extra floors based on the design, which, according to the building construction rules, should not have been approved, it said. 

The three are also accused of negligence and misusing power, said ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan, citing the case statement.

The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice KM Hafizul Alam passed yesterday’s order after rejecting two separate petitions from Aurangzeb and Nazrul seeking anticipatory bail in the case.

The court, however, granted a six-week anticipatory bail to the former Rajuk chairman Harun.

The HC bench asked Harun to surrender after six weeks before the Dhaka’s Metropolitan Senior Special Judge’s Court, which is hearing the case, said the ACC lawyer.

Earlier in the day, the three accused appeared before the HC bench with three separate bail petitions.

Barrister Shafique Ahmed and advocate AM Aminuddin appeared for the petitioners while advocate Khurshid argued for the ACC. 

Aminuddin said the court granted bail to Harun as it did not find any “specific allegation” against his client.

On June 25, the anti-graft watchdog filed two more cases, against 23 people, for their alleged involvement in illegally extending FR Tower.

The ACC sued 20 and five people in the cases over the illegal extension of the building from 16th to 18th and 19th to 23rd floors respectively.

The accused included the former Rajuk chariman; chairman of Rupayan Housing Estate Ltd; and several government officials.

Earlier, an ACC enquiry found that FR Tower had no fire alarm and its exit points and staircases were narrow. Also, the building authorities originally had permission for building only 15 storeys.

These led to the rise in the number of casualties in the fire, according to ACC officials.