MOHAMMAD JAMIL KHAN and EMRUL HASAN BAPPI

At least 71 people were killed in a tragic fire at Wahed Mansion in Chawkbazar’s Churihatta area in Old Dhaka on February 20, 2019.

The fire broke out after a gas cylinder of a private car exploded and spread to a nearby transmitter. A day later, Mohammad Asif, a resident of the area, filed a case with Chawkbazar Police Station to seek justice for the victims.

Three years after the investigation, the investigating officer of the case, also the police inspector Abdul Kayum submitted a charge sheet accusing eight including the owner of Wahed Mansion, Hasan Sultan, and his brother Hossain Sultan Sohel on February 14, 2022.

A year later, on January 31, 2023, the court formally framed charges against the accused.

Again, after a nine-month gap, on October 17 last year, the court recorded the testimony of Asif, the complainant of the case. The next hearing of the case is fixed for March 21.

A total of 167 people were made witnesses in the case.

Asked about the delay, the state lawyer Mazharul Haque said the case was with another court when the charge was framed.

It was later transferred to the Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court-8 of Dhaka.

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