Two FR Tower owners sent to jail

A Dhaka court has ordered SMHI Faruk and Tasvir Ul Islam - two owners of Banani's fire-ravaged FR Tower - into jail after refusing them bail.

They were arrested on Mar 30 after probes into the blaze revealed several irregularities relating to the building's construction. They were subsequently remanded for interrogation.

After the interrogation, Tasvir and Faruk were produced in the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Shadbir Yasir Ahsan Chowdhury on Monday. 

Many people were trapped inside the FR Tower on Kamal Ataturk Avenue in Dhaka's Banani when the 23-storey building caught fire on Thursday afternoon. Photo: Asif Mahmud Ove

Police made a plea to keep the two in jail until the investigation in the case is completed, said Inspector Jalal Uddin, an investigating officer of the Detective Branch of Police.

Faruk and Tasvir were sent to jail after their bail pleas were rejected by the magistrate.

Real estate company Rupayan Housing erected the 23-floor FR Tower on a land owned by engineer Faruk in Banani's Kamal Ataturk Avenue.

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

Tasvir, a member of the BNP’s central committee and the president of the party’s Kurigram wing, is Managing Director and CEO of Quasem Industries Limited.

His firm has its offices on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd floors of FR Tower. Tasvir is also president of the building’s management committee.

Twenty-six people were killed and about 50 others were injured in a blaze that swept through the high-rise office bloc in Banani on Mar 28.

A probe into the incident subsequently revealed that the builders of the 23-storey FR Tower only had permission to construct up to 18 floors.