Rana Plaza collapse: At last ACC accuses Rana
Following widespread criticism, the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) on Tuesday charged Sohel Rana, together with 17 others, in the Rana Plaza collapse case.
The commercial complex, built with a faulty design at Savar on the outskirts of capital Dhaka, collapsed on 24 April 2013, killing over 1,136 people and injuring some 2,515.
Earlier, ACC brought charges against 17 people in a case over the construction of Rana Plaza building with a faulty design.
Sohel Rana was a ruling party leader when the building collapsed. He was later expelled from the party after strong criticism against the government form all quarters of life that the government was trying to save Rana.
On June 15 this year, the ACC filed a case against 17 people, including Rana’s parents on charge of constructing Rana Plaza building with a faulty design.
The Commission at its regular meeting approved the charge-sheet incorporating the name of Sohel Rana, the key accused of the deadly building collapse, ACC public relations officer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya told UNB.
Sohel Rana and his parents — Abdul Khaleque and Marjina Begum — Savar Municipality mayor Refat Ullah, former chief executive officer of Savar Municipality Uttam Kumar Roy, its executive engineer Rafiqul Islam, commissioner Haji M Ali Khan (Ward 7, Savar), architect ATM Masud Reza, Engr Sajjad Hossain and former town planner of Savar Municipality Farjana Islam, among others, are named in the charge-sheet.
Talking to reporters at his office in the afternoon, ACC commissioner M Shahabuddin said as per the statements of the witnesses taken during the ACC investigation, Rana played an influential role in constructing the building with substandard construction materials.
“Rana also converted the shopping mall into a garment industry practicing muscle power. He did not assess the building capacity. Heavy equipments were installed in the building, which accelerated its collapse,” he said.
Shahabuddin said as Rana was the beneficiary of the building, his name is incorporated in the charge-sheet.
On June 15 this year, the ACC filed a case against 17 people, including Rana’s parents on charge of constructing Rana Plaza building with a faulty design.
The local municipality had given an approval in 2007 to construct a five-storey structure, but the building owner built an eight-storey commercial complex on wetland, triggering the building collapse.
The building collapse is considered to be the deadliest garment-factory accident in history, as well as the deadliest accidental structural failure in modern human history.