Rana brought to Dhaka after arrest

Mohammad Sohel Rana, the owner of multistorey commercial bloc Rana Plaza which collapsed on Wednesday morning, has been brought to Dhaka after his capture in Jessore.

A RAB helicopter flew the Juba League leader to Tejgaon old airport at around 5pm on Sunday and he was being brought to the elite force’s headquarters at the capital’s Uttara.

Rana, whose ‘negligence’ allegedly caused the high-rise to collapse in Savar, leaving nearly 400 people dead, was arrested at Benapole earlier in the day.

State Minister for LGRD Jahangir Kabir Nanak had confirmed the news of his arrest from Benapole - bordering India – at the time.

“He was trying to flee the country. He is now being brought to Dhaka in a helicopter,” Nanak had said. Junior Home Minister Shamsul Haque Tuku was present beside Nanak when the announcements were made in Savar.

Earlier on Sunday morning, police and the RAB conducted unsuccessful raids in Khulna’s Sonadanga to nab Rana, Sonadanga Police Station Officer in-Charge SM Kamruzzaman said.

Sohel Rana claims himself to be the Senior Joint Convenor of the ruling Awami League’s youth front – Juba League, but Awami League supremo Sheikh Hasina has dismissed his claim.

The Prime Minister herself had ordered that Rana be arrested.

Rana reportedly had taken no heed of the cracks in the wall that surfaced in his building, housing at least five garment factories and many other offices, and dismissed it as ‘nothing serious’ on Tuesday.

The majority of the victims after the collapse on Wednesday were readymade garment workers, who were forced into work by the factory owners on Wednesday despite safety alerts raised by the Industrial Police the previous day.

Two cases have already been filed at the Savar Model Police Station, over what is being described as the worst industrial disaster in the history of Bangladesh, against Rana and the owners of the five garment factories located in the building.