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Published : 24 Apr 2026, 02:52 PM
Thirteen years after the Rana Plaza collapse in Savar, the trials in the two main cases over the country’s deadliest industrial disaster remain unfinished.
The murder case has recently gathered pace, with testimony recorded from 145 of the 594 listed witnesses.
But in the case filed under the building construction law, witness testimony has yet to begin, despite charges having been framed years ago.
The 10-storey Rana Plaza building near Savar bus stand collapsed on Apr 24, 2013, trapping about 5,000 workers inside several garment factories housed there.
Over days of rescue efforts, 1,136 bodies were recovered from the rubble, while 2,438 people were pulled out alive. Nearly 2,000 of them were left injured or disabled.
Five days after the disaster, on Apr 29, building owner Sohel Rana was arrested at Benapole while trying to flee to India.
Although several cases were filed after the collapse, the murder case and the building code violation case are regarded as the two principal ones.
Sohel Rana remains in jail in both, while most of the other accused are either on bail or absconding.
More than two years after the collapse, CID Assistant Superintendent of Police Bijoy Krishna Kar submitted chargesheets in both cases on Jun 1, 2015.
In one case, 41 people, including Sohel Rana, his parents, and the then mayor and commissioners of Savar Municipality, were accused of planned murder.
In the other, 18 people, including Rana, were accused of constructing the building in violation of building regulations.
There were 42 accused in total across the two cases, with 17, including Rana, facing charges in both. Four of the accused have since died.
Additional Public Prosecutor Faisal Mahmud of the Dhaka District and Sessions Judge’s Court said the murder trial was now moving quickly.
“It is hoped that the verdict in the murder case will be delivered within this year,” he said.
Rana’s lawyer Masud Khan Khokon, however, said his client had remained in jail for 13 years without the trial being completed.
“If he is found innocent and acquitted, who will give him back these 13 years?” he said.
Murder Case Moving Ahead
The day after the collapse, Savar Police Station Sub-Inspector Ali Ashraf filed a case over deaths caused by negligence, naming Rana and 21 others.
Separately, Shiuli Akter, the wife of garment worker Jahangir Alam, filed another case in court describing the deaths as murder.
On the court’s order, CID merged the two matters in its investigation. Shiuli later became a witness in the case.
On Jul 18, 2016, then Dhaka District and Sessions Judge SM Kuddus Zaman ordered the start of the murder trial by framing charges against 41 accused.
Soon after, eight accused, including then Savar mayor Refayet Ullah and then councillor Mohammad Ali Khan, moved the High Court seeking to have the case dismissed. The court issued a rule and stayed proceedings, halting the recording of testimony.
After the stay was lifted, witness testimony began on Jan 31, 2022.
The case is now being heard by the court of Dhaka’s 8th Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Munir Hossain. It was transferred there on Sept 28 last year in an effort to speed up proceedings.
Since then, 51 witnesses have testified over five hearing dates in the past five months.
At the last hearing on Mar 30, eight witnesses gave evidence. The next date for testimony has been set for Apr 30, bench assistant Riazul Islam Sajib said.
He said non-bailable arrest warrants had been issued against 50 witnesses and summons sent out to secure their appearance.
Faisal said most of those who had testified so far were relatives of the victims, while some were police officers.
“If we can take testimony from some of the engineers and doctors connected to Rana Plaza, it is hoped we will get a verdict within this year,” he said.
Building Law Case Still Stuck
The other main case was filed by RAJUK official Md Helal Uddin over the construction of Rana Plaza in violation of the building construction law.
On Apr 26, 2015, the CID submitted a chargesheet against 18 people, including Rana.
Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Mostafizur Rahman ordered the start of the trial on Jun 14, 2016 by framing charges.
Several accused later challenged that order before the Dhaka District and Sessions Judge’s Court. One accused, Phantom Apparels chief Muhammad Aminul Islam, was discharged after his revision petition was allowed.
In another development, the High Court stayed proceedings against accused Refayet Ullah on Nov 7, 2021. That six-month stay expired long ago, and the case is now at the stage of witness testimony.
But no witnesses are appearing.
The case was scheduled for testimony on Apr 20 in the court of Dhaka Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Mahbubur Rahman, but no one came to testify. The next date has now been fixed for Sept 30.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Ishtiaq Hossain Jipu said the prosecution was ready, but witnesses were not turning up despite being summoned.
“The case is fixed for taking testimony. The court sends summons to the witnesses to appear. But they are not coming to testify. That is why testimony is not being recorded,” he said.
He said that the state was prepared to proceed as soon as witnesses appeared.
“If the witnesses appear, we will be able to conclude the trial quickly,” he said.
