No trace of missing 182 even after a year, no initiative either

At least 182 people went missing in the fire at the factory of Gazi Tyres in Rupganj of Narayanganj on 25 August last year, claimed the relatives of the missing persons. The claim was also corroborated by a government investigation. However, none of the government agencies conducted any drive to trace the bodies or charred remains.

A year after the incident, the relatives of the missing say that at first they had wanted the bodies of their loved ones, but now they only want the charred bones.

Nur Hossain, 42, of Borhanuddin upazila in Bhola worked as a truck driver in Rupganj. He lived in a two-room rented house in Kajipara, Rupganj, with his wife Parveen Begum, their two daughters, and a son.

On the day of the incident, Nur returned home from work in the evening. When a fellow truck driver in the neighbourhood fell ill, he took him to a local hospital. At around 9:00 pm, he came back home and then left with his brother-in-law, Md Rasel, 34, for Gazi Tyres factory. Neither of them returned home after that.

Recently, Noor Hossain’s rented house in Kajipara was found empty. Neighbours said his wife, Parvin, had to leave the two-room home as she could not pay the rent and now lives with their three children in a one-room tin-shed house in the same area.

Speaking to Prothom Alo there, Parvin said they searched for Noor and Rasel in various hospitals in Narayanganj and Dhaka. They even checked prisons, but found no trace of them anywhere.

Torn between the grief of losing her husband and the struggle of poverty, Parvin has taken a job at a local factory to raise her children. She broke down in tears while speaking about it. Her six-year-old son Abdullah, who had been playing nearby, climbed onto her lap after seeing his mother cry.

Parvin believes that her husband and her brother-in-law, like the others who went missing, are no longer alive. She said they all died inside the Gazi Tyres factory and that their charred remains have been trapped in the burnt building for the past year.

For the past year, Parvin has joined other families in the movement demanding the recovery of the remains. They have petitioned the Narayanganj superintendent of police, the deputy commissioner, and various offices, but no rescue operation has been carried out inside the building. The government has not officially confirmed their death. As a result, they are not getting any government or non-government support.

In conversation, Parvin said her husband had taken nearly Tk 100,000 in loans from NGOs. Without a death certificate, the NGOs have not formally waived the debt, nor has she been able to apply for widow’s allowance. The family has also been unable to perform the religious rites usually observed after death.

Sitting beside her, Parvin’s mother, Khadija Begum, said, “Even if they have died, their bones are still there. The government could have given that. We could have buried them and found some comfort.”

On 5 August last year, when the Awami League government fell amid the student–mass uprising, looting and arson occurred at many factories across the country, including Gazi Tyres in Rupganj. The factory’s owner is Golam Dastgir Gazi, former Minister of Textiles and Jute under the Awami League government and four-time MP for Narayanganj-1. In the early hours of 25 August last year, he was arrested in Dhaka. Following the news, a public announcement was made via loudspeaker, after which looting resumed and a six-storey building inside the factory was set on fire.

After the incident, the then deputy commissioner (DC) of Narayanganj, Mohammad Mahmudul Haque, formed an eight-member investigation committee. On 12 September, the committee submitted a 32-page investigation report to the DC.

Although the report identified the incident as ‘arson,’ it did not provide specific information about the individuals involved. The report mentioned that 182 people were missing, including their names, addresses, ages, and mobile numbers. Among the report’s ten recommendations, the first suggested that the recovery operation could be completed by demolishing the building using modern technology. It stated that the building should be demolished by the owner.

The investigation report on the incident states that the factory was looted for the first time on 5 August, during which several parts of the factory were set on fire. Looting continued until 8 August. After that, the electricity and gas supply to the building was cut off.

On 25 August, when news of Golam Dastgir’s arrest spread, an announcement was made over loudspeakers at 11:00 am instructing people to gather at Rupashi Bus Stand by 3:00 pm. Subsequently, miscreants forced the workers and staff out of the factory and carried out looting. Clashes broke out both inside and outside the factory among several groups. Additionally, announcements from the mosque loudspeakers claiming that robbers had entered the factory and urging people to resist them further intensified the looting.

At around 10:30 pm, a group of looters set fire to the ground floor of the building and locked the gate shutters before leaving. At that time, many people were on the upper floors. Due to the presence of flammable materials, the fire quickly spread to every floor. It took five days to fully extinguish the fire. The prolonged blaze made the building structurally risky, preventing any rescue operations.

The committee had recommended properly identifying the remains and returning them to the families. However, over the past year, no rescue operations or efforts to hand over the remains have been undertaken in the building.

Mohammad Zahidul Islam Miah, the current DC of Narayanganj, said he knows nothing about the investigation report.

He added, “Family members of the missing persons have approached us several times. I marked their applications and instructed the district police to take action. The police have not reported any progress.”

Mehedi Islam, senior assistant superintendent of police (ASP) of Narayanganj, said the police are working to trace the missing individuals.

“We are following the list prepared by the administration and checking the last locations of the mobile numbers used by the missing persons and whether those numbers are still active. Several police officers have been assigned for this task. They are speaking with family members and conducting on-site investigations. However, no one on the missing persons list has been identified so far,” he added.

A recent visit to the Gazi Tyres factory revealed that entry inside the building was not permitted. The fire damage on the exterior remains visible, and the building still stands.

When contacted over phone, a senior official of the Gazi Group, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “During the first phase, looting continued for at least seven consecutive days, yet no administrative or legal support was provided. The factory cannot operate as the owner is in jail.”