Land owner of FR tower arrested

Sylhet Mirror Published at : 31 March 2019, 11:48:01 AM

Owner of the land where the FR tower was built has been arrested on Sunday from Bashundhara Residential Area as the death toll from the deadly tower fire reached 26.

Engineer SMHI Faruk Hossain was arrested as he was named in a case filed over the fire incident.

“A team of police’s Detective Branch arrested him around 1:30am,” said Golam Saqlain Shithil, additional deputy commissioner of DB (north).

Sub-Inspector Milton Dutta of Banani Police Station filed a case accusing Faruk, 65, Rupayan Group Chairman Liaquat Ali Khan Mukul, 57, Quasem Drycell Limited Managing Director and BNP leader Tasveer Ul Islam, 62, FR Tower management committee members and several others.

Among the accused, BNP leader Tasveer has also been arrested by law enforcers.

Government officials said that the 22-storey tower was constructed violating the building code and that it did not have adequate firefighting equipment or fire exits. A number of probe bodies have been formed to investigate the fire incident that left around 70 others injured.

On March 28, Dhaka dwellers watched in horror as people were seen jumping to their deaths from above 20 floors as fire engulfed three floors of FR Tower. Till now, 26 people have been confirmed dead.

DB arrested BNP leader Tasveer, who owned the extended portion of FR Tower, from his Baridhara residence on Saturday night.