Corruption in Rana Plaza construction case sent back from verdict stage to arguments
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The corruption case over the construction of Rana Plaza in Savar has been sent back from the verdict stage to the hearing of arguments against eight people including the building’s owner Sohel Rana.
The verdict in the 13-year-old case was scheduled to be delivered today, Tuesday. However, Dhaka Divisional Special Judge BM Tarikul Kabir did not announce the verdict and instead ordered another hearing of arguments. The hearing will be held on October 6.
Anti-Corruption Commission prosecutor Ishtiaq Ahmed told reporters that the case was sent back from the verdict stage to the hearing of arguments to clarify some issues. The court will announce the verdict after the arguments are presented.
Apart from Sohel Rana, the other accused in the case are former Savar Municipal Mayor Refat Ullah, former Chief Executive Officer of Savar Municipality Uttam Kumar Roy, Executive Engineer Rafiqul Islam, former Assistant Engineer Mahbubur Rahman, former Sub Assistant Engineer Rakibul Hasan Russell, former Town Planner of Savar Municipality Farzana Islam and License Inspector Md. Abdul Mottalib.
Sohel Rana is on bail in this case but remains in prison in a murder case. He was brought to the court from prison on Tuesday.
Mahbubur Rahman and Farzana Islam have been fugitives since the beginning of the case. The other accused are on bail. They appeared before the court.
During the trial of the case, Rana’s father Abdul Khaleque and mother Morzina Khatun Begum died. They were discharged from the case.
On April 24, 2013, Rana Plaza near the Savar bus stand collapsed, killing 1,136 people and injuring more than 1,500. The building collapse drew worldwide attention to Bangladesh.
Soon after the incident, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) began investigating corruption in the construction of the building.
On June 15, 2014, ACC Deputy Assistant Director SM Mofidul Islam filed a case at Savar Police Station against 17 people over allegations of constructing the building in violation of the approved design.
As the building was registered in Sohel Rana’s father’s name, the case was initially filed against 17 people including his father and mother without naming Sohel Rana.
When the investigation established that Sohel Rana was the main person overseeing the building, he was added to the list of accused in the charge sheet.
According to the case documents, after the charge sheet was submitted, a further investigation report was filed for the third time on February 23, 2017, naming 18 people including building owner Sohel Rana and his parents as accused.
The charge sheet said Savar Municipality approved the design on April 10, 2006, for the construction of a six story shopping complex called Rana Plaza.
On January 22, 2008, approval was sought to construct another four floors on top of the six-story building. The municipal authorities then opened a new file by concealing information from the earlier approval documents and approved the design for a 10-story building.
In addition, although the building was initially described as a shopping complex before construction of Rana Plaza, Savar Municipality later allowed five garment factories to be established there.
The trial began with the framing of charges against the accused on May 21, 2017. Nineteen of the 20 witnesses testified before the court.
Two more cases are pending against Sohel Rana in connection with the building collapse. One involves charges of murder and the other involves allegations of violating building construction regulations.
