The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has stayed till May 8 bail to Sohel Rana, the owner of Rana Plaza who is an accused in the murder case related to the building collapse and casualties.
Justice Md Abu Zafar Siddique of the vacation chamber court of the apex court delivered the order on Sunday (April 9) after holding hearing on a state plea to stay his bail, which was granted by the High Court. Earlier on April 6, the HC bench of Justice Md Akram Hossain Chowdhury and Justice Shahed Nuruddin granted bail to Sohel Rana, announcing the rule regarding Sohel Rana’s bail is correct.
The Rana Plaza in Savar collapsed on April 24 in 2013. Around 5,000 garment workers were buried under the rubble. Over 1,136 bodies were recovered in that incident. About 2,000 workers were injured and crippled. About 2,438 people were rescued alive from under the rubble.
Five days after this incident, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested building owner Sohel Rana, as he attempted to flee to India.
Later, a case was filed against him along with the owners of various factories in that building.
In that incident, the then Savar police station SI Wali Ashraf filed a case of negligence and defect in the construction of the building. On 26 April 2015, CID Assistant Superintendent of Police Bijoykrishna Kaur filed a charge sheet against building owner Sohel Rana and 41 people. 594 people were made witnesses in the case.
41 who have been charged with murder are – Rana Plaza owner Sohel Rana, his parents Abdul Khaleque and Morzina Begum, Savar Municipality Mayor Refat Ullah, its Ward Councillor Mohammad Ali Khan, its Engineer Rafiqul Islam, Sub-assistant Engineer Raqibul Hassan Russell, Chairman of New Wave Bottom Ltd Bazlus Samad Adnan, Managing Director of New Wave Style Ltd Mahmudur Rahman Taposh, Chairman of Ether Tex Ltd Anisur Rahman, Managing Director of Ether Tex Ltd Jannatul Ferdous, Chairman of Fantom Apparels Aminul Islam, site engineers Sarwar Kamal, Abu Bakar Siddique and Mohammad Madhu, the then chief executive officer of Savar Municipality Uttam Kumar Roy, its the then assistant engineer Mahbubur Rahman, Urban Planner Farzana Islam, the then deputy chief inspector (Mills and Factories Directorate) Abdus Samad, Deputy Chief Inspector (Mills and Factories) Jamsedur Rahman, Deputy Chief Inspector Belayet Hossain, Inspectors (Engineering) Yusuf Ali and Shahidul Islam, Building Inspector Md Awlad Hossain, building contractor Md Nantu, Anil Das, Md Shah Alam Mithu, Abul Hasan, Shafiqul Islam Bhuiyan, Monwar Hossain Biplob, Ataur Rahman, Abdus Salam, Biddut Miah, Syed Shafiqul Islam Johny, Rezaul Islam, Abdul Hamid, Abdul Majid, Aminul Islam (2), Nayon Miah, Yusuf Ali and Taslim.
On July 18 in 2016, Dhaka District and Sessions Judge SM Quddus Zaman framed charges against the accused.
