Owner Tasvir secures bail over FR Tower design forgery charges

Tasvir Ul Islam, one of the owners of FR Tower, has secured bail a day after his arrest by the Anti-Corruption Commission in a case over charges of forging the design of the fire-ravaged building in Dhaka’s Banani.

Senior Special Judge of Dhaka KM Imrul Kayes granted him bail on Monday after hearing his petition and the ACC’s plea for sending him to jail.

Tasvir, a member of the BNP’s central committee and president of the party’s Kurigram wing, is Managing Director of Quasem Drycells which owns three floors of the 23-storey building.

Real estate company Rupayan Housing built FR Tower on a land owned by SMHI Faruque on Kamal Ataturk Avenue.

The ownership of the building was jointly held by the landowner and the developer. Hence, it was named Faruque Rupayan Tower, or FR Tower in short.

The ACC arrested Faruque on Monday.

Rupayan Group Chairman Liaquat Ali Khan Mukul is also among 23 accused in the case.

Lawyer Ehsanul Haque Samaji, who pleaded Tasvir’s case, said Mukul had already secured anticipatory bail from the High Court.

“If anyone should be held responsible for flaws in construction of the building, it is Mukul,” he said.     

ACC lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kajol argued that Tadvir cannot avoid responsibilities for corruption and he should be kept in jail because he may hamper investigation.

A housing and public works ministry investigation found five of FR Tower’s top floors were “illegally” built and held about 50 RAJUK staff members, including two ex-chairmen, responsible for irregularities in approving the building design.

It also found irregularities in the floors being cleared for securing loans.

The charges against Tasvir include buying the FR Tower floors illegally by taking Tk 56.5 million in loans from GSP Finance Limited.

Police had earlier arrested Tasvir, who headed the managing committee of the building, in a case over the deaths in the fire incident. He later walked out on bail in that case.