Two sons of Haji Wahed secure bail from High Court over Chawkbazar fire

The High Court has granted three weeks’ bail to two sons of Wahed Mansion’s owner in a case started by a local resident over the deadly fire in Old Dhaka’s Chawkbazar.

The bench of Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim and Justice Md Riaz Uddin Khan passed the orders on Monday and asked Wahed Mansion owner Haji Abdul Wahed's sons - Md Hassan and ‘Sohel’ alias ‘Sharif’ - to surrender before court after the expiry of the bail orders.

Deputy Attorney General Jahid Sarwar Kajal appeared at the hearing on behalf of the state while the bail petitioner was represented by lawyers Mumtazuddin Ahmed Mehedi and Sheikh Obaidur Rahman.

The state will appeal against the court’s bail decision, Kajal told reporters after the hearing.

The deadly fire in Old Dhaka’s Chawkbazar on Feb 20 killed 71 people. The fire started at Wahed Mansion’s second floor used for storing chemical, not by gas cylinder of any vehicle or restaurant, said the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh or IEB after an investigation.

The first floor of the building was used as warehouses of high pressure deodorant canisters and raw plastic granules while chemicals were stored in the basement of the building.

Of the 71 people who died in the fatal fire, 24 were found on the ground floor of the Mansion.

Md Asif, son of 52-year old ‘Jummon’ who died in the fire, started the case at the Chawkbazar Model Police Station on the night of Feb 21, accusing 14 people, including Hasan and Sharif.

Lawyer Mehdi said, "It has been said in the case that the fire was started by the explosion of a private car’s cylinder. So, where are their responsibilities as the owners?

“Moreover, buildings No. 65 and 66 have been mentioned in the case. But they are not the owners of those buildings. They own the building No. 64."