Narayanganj mosque committee chief arrested over AC blasts

The Criminal Investigation Department or CID has arrested the head of Baitus Salat Jame Mosque's management committee in a case over the deadly airconditioner blasts that killed 34 people in Narayanganj's Fatullah.

Abdul Gafur, 65, was apprehended outside his house in the west Talla area on Oct 30, according to Superintendent Md Nasir Uddin Ahmed of Narayanganj's CID unit.

Legal action is being taken against Gafur, who is charged with 'neglect of duty', the police official said.

At least 40 Muslim worshippers were burnt in what the authorities said were explosions of air-conditioners at Baitus Salat Jame Masjid in Narayanganj’s Fatullah on Sep 4, 2020.

Twelve people, including officials of Titas, Dhaka Power Distribution Company and local electricians were arrested in connection with the case. All of them are currently out on bail, said SP Nasir.

More than 50 Muslim worshippers sustained burn injuries when six airconditioners at the mosque exploded on Sep 4. As many as 37 of the victims were subsequently admitted to Dhaka's Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery. But only three of them recovered and returned home.