An application has been filed before a Dhaka court seeking to initiate a case against 16 individuals, including former Chief Adviser of the interim government Muhammad Yunus, former Law Adviser Asif Nazrul, and Bangladesh Air Force Chief Hasan Mahmood Khan, over the deaths of students in a military aircraft crash at Milestone School and College in the capital’s Uttara area.
The application was submitted on Thursday morning (May 7) before the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Ariful Islam by Usaimong Marma, father of deceased student Ukya Chaing Marma. The court recorded the complainant’s statement and kept the order pending.
The complainant’s lawyer A K M Sharif Uddin confirmed the matter.
Other accused named in the petition include Air Vice Marshal Morshed Mohammad Khairul Afsar, Group Captain Rifat Akhtar Jiku, Principal of Milestone School and College Mohammad Ziaul Alam, adviser Nur Nabi (Retd. Colonel), Principal (Administration) Masud Alam, Principal (School Section) Rifat Nabi, the Chairman of RAJUK, Field Supervisor (Uttara), Education Ministry Secretary Siddiq Jubayer, the Defence Ministry Secretary, former Education Adviser C. R. Abrar, former Environment Adviser Dr. Rezwana Hasan, and former Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam.
The complaint alleges charges of death caused by negligence and fraud against the accused.
According to the case application, on July 21 last year, a Bangladesh Air Force training fighter aircraft crashed into a two-storey building of Milestone School and College in Uttara, killing 36 people and injuring 124 others. An investigation committee later identified pilot error during takeoff as the primary cause of the crash.
