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Over 20,000 sued for launch arson

Staff Correspondent
Two cases have been filed against 20 to 30 thousand unknown people with South Keroniganj police station for the violence on Sunday near die Sadarghat launch terminal.
Police filed one of the cases, while an affected launch owner filed the other, against unidentified people for violation of Emergency Power Rules (EPR) and setting two launches ablaze and damaging several others.
No one was arrested as of 8:30pm yesterday.
Meanwhile Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BITWA) has said that insufficient deployment of security forces led to Sunday's violence at South Keraniganj.
BIWTA Chairman Abdul Mannan Howlader said at a press conference in his office yesterday that his organisation had written to concerned forces back on April 29 requesting them to deploy sufficient forces while they shift a jetty, as they apprehended that that the law and order situation might deteriorate in the area during the shift.
Letters were sent to the Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Deputy Inspector General of Dhaka Range, Commander of Rapid Action Battalion-10, Commanders of Keraniganj and Dhaka army camps, Superintendent of Police, Dhaka and other concerned police stations, he said.
Witnesses said that only around 100 policemen were seen at the spot during the violence on Sunday.
Normalcy has meanwhile returned to Sadarghat and South Keraniganj areas after BIWTA removed one of the three disputed pontoons from Simpson Masjid Ghat early in the morning yester-
Launches operated from Sadarghat as usual yesterday while shop owners and traders kept their business establishments open.
Thousands of shop owners and workers at South Keraniganj had demonstrated violently on Sunday against the closure of a jetty near Sadarghat launch terminal and set two launches ablaze and looted six others on the river Buriganga.
The BIWTA chairman said that they would set up two permanent jetties west of Simpson Majsid Ghat jetty -- one 64 feet long and the other 214 feet long -- within the next month in line with the demand of businessmen in South Keraniganj.
He also said that the pontoon, removed temporarily, would be reinstalled at its place after that.
Around 90 passenger launches use the Sadarghat launch terminal for 39 routes everyday, but the terminal has berthing facilities for only 30 launches at a time, which is about one third of tlie requirement.
The BIWTA chairman said the decision to set up three pontoons at Simpson Road Masjid Chat was taken after talks between the government and launch owners and businessmen in Keraniganj. The reason behind it was the frequent accidents that occur at the terminal, as the only jetty here was situated between the two existing terminals.
Secretary BIWTA Syed Monwar Hossain and Director General of the Department of Shipping AKM Shafiullah were present at the press conference.