‘Rana deserves life term’

A government enquiry committee has recommended life terms for the owners of the collapsed Savar building Mohammad Sohel Rana and the five readymade garment factories it housed.

The investigative panel in a report also recommended confiscation of the plot of land on which the nine-storey building was constructed and financial support to the families of the workers who died and to the injured.

The committee formed by the Ministry of Home Affairs headed by Additional Secretary Mainuddin Khandker submitted the 400-page report to the Secretary on Wednesday.

Rapid Action Battalion arrests Mohammad Sohel Rana, owner of collapsed multistory commercial bloc Rana Plaza in Savar, from Benapole and brings him to its headquarters in Dhaka on Sunday.

After submitting the report, he said the ‘maximum’ punishment or the imprisonment for 10 years or fine or both for the owners have been proposed under Section 304 of the Bangladesh Penal Code.

He told reporters that the panel identified five causes that led to the collapse claiming more than 1100 lives.

“Based on the findings, we made seven observations and 12 recommendations in the report,” he said. “We believe immediate steps should be taken over three issues highlighted in the report.”

The committee chief had earlier told bdnews24.com that he was expecting a life sentence for Rana.

On Wednesday he said the report also proposed taking action against the local Mayor, Councillor, engineers and others, involved directly or indirectly with the world’s deadliest building collapse.

Recent media reports say the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has proposed a new shopping mall on the Rana Plaza’s land to allocate shops to the families of deceased as compensation.

The home ministry committee also proposed forming a department exclusively for the readymade units under the Ministry of Labour and Employment to avoid a repeat of such incidents.

Authorities called off the rescue operation at the collapse site on May 13 after the building came crushing down on the morning of April 24. As per government data, a total of 1130 people were killed in the collapse.

The six-member committee was formed immediately after the building cave in on Apr 24.