3 Tazreen staff held
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested three more staff of Tazreen Fashions in Ashulia on Saturday night in connection with the factory fire that left 112 workers dead last year.
The detainees are security in-charge Anisur Rahman, storekeeper Al-Amin and security guard Mohammad Rana Islam.
“The three were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the fire,†said Mansur Ali Mondol, senior assistant superintendent of police of the CID. “They had been deployed on the ground floor of the factory, from where the fire had originated.â€
Mansur, also the investigation officer of the case that led to the arrests, said they were arrested in their hideouts and were produced before a Dhaka court, with a seven-day remand prayer for interrogation for each.
Detective Branch of police had earlier arrested the garment factory's administrative officer Dulal Uddin, store in-charge Hamidul Islam Lavlu, and security supervisor Al Amin, 27.
Two days after the November 24 fire last year, Ashulia police filed the case against several unknown persons in connection with the casualties in the fire.
Meanwhile, a probe report of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters' Association (BGMEA) on December 31 last year said the fire was pre-planned.
An 11-member team headed by BGMEA Vice-President SM Mannan Kochi had found that several factory officials were involved in the fire, the report said.
The three staff members had locked all the collapsible gates when the fire broke out. Had they acted responsibly, many victims could have escaped to safety, the report added.
Tazreen Fashions had lacked safety measures for workers but the suspicious behaviour of level one's mid-level officials during the incident indicated that it was intentional, according to the team's findings.
Earlier, a home ministry investigation on December 17 described the fire as an act of "sabotage" and recommended suing nine officials of the factory and its owner Delwar Hossain.
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