Shawdesh Desk:

The victims of Churihatta fire tragedy and their family members are yet to get justice, though three years have elapsed since the incident took place in Old Dhaka on February 20, 2019.

The third anniversary of the fire tragedy will be observed today remembering the victims of the fire incident that claimed at least 71 lives.

On February 20, 2019, the fire broke out at a chemical warehouse at Wahed Mansion in Churihatta of Chawkbazar around 10:30pm.

The fire also spread to neighbouring buildings. Thirty-seven firefighting units brought the inferno under control after working tirelessly for 14 hours. Autopsy reports said all the victims were burned alive.

The following day, Md Asif, a resident of Chawkbazar, filed the case in connection with massive damages, including the loss of many lives due to negligence.

After three years of investigation, Chawkbazar police on February 15 pressed charges against eight people, including two owners of Wahed Mansion.

The accused are: owners of Wahed Mansion at Churihatta Mohammad Hasan Sultan and Mohammad Hossain Sultan alias Sohel, and owners of chemical warehouse Imtiaz Ahmed, Mozammel Iqbal, Mozaffar Uddin, Mohammad Jawad Atiq, Mohammad Nabil and Kashif.

Of them, the two brothers were arrested following the incident and later they were released on bail while the rest secured bail from different courts on different dates.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Chawkbazar Police Station Inspector Abdul Kayum, also the investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet to Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court.

In the charge sheet, the primary charges brought against the accused are negligence which caused deaths and injuries to so many people.

The charge sheet will be placed before the court on March 23 for taking next course of action, sources said.