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Published : 25 Aug 2025, 01:49 AM
When flames engulfed the Gazi Tyres factory in Narayanganj’s Rupganj Upazila, 22-year-old weaving worker Abdur Rahman went missing. A year has passed, and his family has found no trace of him.
In March, his father Md Jalal, a rickshaw puller in declining health, succumbed to what his wife believes was the heartbreak of losing their only son. His mother Hormuja Begum remains in quiet mourning, clutching a grief that time has failed to ease.
The blaze, which burned for five days before being brought under control by fire crews, erupted on Aug 25, 2024, just after the arrest of former minister Golam Dastagir Gazi. But while headlines have faded, the silence surrounding the fate of the missing has become deafening.
“He went there with his friends. I thought he’d come home after his shift, but who knows what devil dragged him away, he never came back. Ten to twelve friends went with him; none of them returned,” said the woman in her 50s.
According to the district administration’s investigation report, at least 182 people remain missing from the incident.
Over the past year, families of the missing have gone from police to administration to the army seeking help. Some have filed missing person reports at police stations, but no agency has been able to locate any of them.
POLICE STILL SEARCHING
Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police Mehedi Islam said the search is ongoing. Speaking at his office at Rupganj Police Station on Aug 19, he told bdnews24.com: “We are checking the last known locations of the mobile numbers used by the missing persons and whether those numbers remain active.
"Several police members have been assigned. They are speaking to the families and conducting physical inquiries.”
However, he acknowledged that no one on the missing list has been identified so far.
A LIFE UPENDED
For Hormuja, hope has turned to acceptance: she has given up hope of finding her son alive. She is now convinced her son perished in the blaze.
She harbours no anger or resentment toward anyone, she added; only the sorrow of never being able to see her son’s body.
The bereaved mother lives alone in a barely habitable, tin-roofed rented room in Kazipara area of Rupganj. Her household once depended entirely on her son’s wages. Her elder daughter’s in-laws are poor. She now survives on handouts from relatives.
“My son never married. Those who went with him, some left behind two or three children. Before he died, his father only wanted to see him once more. But from where would I bring him?” she said.
“My son died in the fire. His father died from grief. And I am still dying, little by little.”
CHARRED BUILDING STANDS WITH ITS SKELETON
Gazi Tyres Limited was one of the major tyre manufacturers in Bangladesh.
The factory, located at the Ruposhi intersection next to the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway, is owned by Gazi, the former minister of textiles and jute in the Awami League government.
The factory was looted and then set ablaze after the fall of the Awami League government on Aug 5, 2024.
He was arrested in Dhaka later on Aug 25. That night, hundreds of people stormed the Gazi Tyres factory. Amidst widespread looting, the factory was set on fire again. This time, the blaze was devastating. It took firefighters five days to extinguish it.
Many of those who went to the factory that night went missing. From the next morning, relatives of the missing individuals began to gather at the factory entrance.
The administration was eventually forced to start registering the names of the missing, taking their photos and national ID cards from their families.
bdnews24.com has spoken with the families of at least 45 people on the district administration's list of the missing. A representative from bdnews24.com also visited the homes of some of the families.
The relatives showed the missing persons’ photos and NID cards. Neighbours confirmed that they have not seen the missing individuals in the area over the past year.
On Aug 19 of this year, a reporter was not allowed to enter the closed Gazi Tyres factory. However, from the outside, the charred six-storey building appeared as devastated as it was before.
A senior factory official says the company has not yet received a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Fire Service to begin restoring the building. As a result, the building remains in its previous state, and production has ceased.
Over the past year, relatives of the missing have met with the district commissioner several times. However, they have only received words of hope but no information on the whereabouts of their loved ones.
When contacted by phone on Aug 21, District Commissioner Mohammad Zahidul Islam Mian said: "I cannot provide details about the inquiries. But family members of the missing persons have come to us multiple times. We have asked police to search for them.
"The relatives of the missing had submitted an application, which I marked and asked the district police to act on. I hope we can provide an update very soon."
'AT LEAST GIVE US HIS BONES'
Md Arif, 27, a textile mill worker, is among those missing. His wife Farzana, left to raise their two sons, 7-year-old Ayan and 18-month-old Nayeem Hasan, has searched tirelessly for answers.
“For a year I went to the SP, DC, the Army, clinging to hope that he might be alive,” she said. “No one even tells me he’s dead. Days go on for everyone else, but my life has stopped.”
Another victim, truck driver Nur Hossain, had returned home from work on the evening of the fire but later went to the factory with his brother-in-law Md Russell, 34. Neither returned.
Nur, originally from Bhola’s Borhanuddin Upazila, lived in a rented two-room house in Kazipara with his wife Parveen and their three children. After his disappearance, Parveen was forced to give up the house and now lives with her children in a single tin-roofed room.
“He went with my brother-in-law to the factory,” she recalled. “His phone rang until 3am. He never came back. But there’s no official declaration of his death either.
"He had loans on instalments, but without a death certificate the repayments aren’t waived. Feeding and schooling three children has become impossible. Even a widow’s allowance card would have helped.”
Nur and Russell’s relatives searched hospitals in Narayanganj and Dhaka and even checked prisons, but found nothing. Resigned to his fate, Parveen now works at a local factory to survive.
Her mother, Khadija Begum, cut in: “If he died, at least his bones should have been returned to us. But it’s been a year and the government has done nothing.”
From Moikul village, brothers Sabbir Shikdar, 26, and Shahadat Shikdar, 30, both electricians, and their brother-in-law Jamir Ali, 36, also went missing.
Their mother Nurunnahar sobbed: “Everyone tells me to be patient. I’ve been patient for a whole year. I can’t anymore. A mother’s heart, you can’t understand how it feels.”
Aman Ullah, 21, a battery factory worker, also vanished.
His mother Rashida Begum said, “My husband has been paralysed by a stroke for 10 years. Our only son supported us. Since he went missing, I left our old home. Now I’m three months behind on rent. Will I never even get the chance to see my son one last time?”
NO ACCOUNTABILITY
After the fire, then the deputy commissioner (DC) Mohammad Mahmudul Haque formed an eight-member investigation committee led by Additional DC Hamidur Rahman. The 32-page report, submitted on Sept 12, described the incident not as an accident but “arson.” Yet it did not identify the culprits.
The report said the factory was first looted on Aug 5, with fires set at several facilities during unrest that continued until Aug 8. Power and gas supplies were cut off afterwards.
When the main fire broke out, 12 fire service units fought for 22 hours to bring it under control. It was fully extinguished only five days later. The building was declared unsafe, preventing rescue operations inside.
The committee’s top recommendation was to use modern technology to dismantle the building so that recovery could proceed, with costs to be borne by the factory owners.
The Fire Service conducted a preliminary search of the basement but found no remains. No further searches were carried out.
NO UPDATES, LIVES IN LIMBO
On Sept 1, five days after the fire was put out, the investigation committee held a public hearing outside the factory, attended by relatives from 80 missing families. Defying restrictions, families forced their way into the burnt building and retrieved 15 bone fragments, which they handed to police.
Superintendent of Police Protyush Kumar Mojumder said at the time that the bones would be sent to the CID’s forensic division for testing.
But when contacted last Thursday, he said: “No update has been provided by CID’s forensic division regarding those bones.”
For families like Farzana’s, Parveen’s, Rashida’s and Nurunnahar’s, the absence of remains means they cannot even obtain death certificates. That leaves them unable to close loans, claim support, or secure widow’s allowances.
A year later, they continue to live in grief and poverty, asking for the same thing: “At least give us the bones.”
