Victims of Rana Plaza tragedy being remembered on Wednesday

he worst-ever tragedy in the country’s multi-billion-dollar ready-made garment (RMG) industry, is being observed on Wednesday.

Different right bodies, worker organisations and left-leaning political parties, including Rana Plaza Survivors’ Association, usually arrange various programmes every year, remembering the victims of the tragedy.

On April 24 in 2013, Rana Plaza, an illegally-constructed building in Savar which housed five garment factories, came down crashing, killing 1,138 people and injuring over 2,000 others.

Later, police filed the murder case accusing Sohel Rana who has been in jail since his arrest.

Trial in the murder case filed over Rana Plaza collapse began officially on January 31, 2022 by recording statements of the witnesses.

On July 18, 2016, Dhaka District and Session Court Judge SM Kuddus Zaman framed charges against the accused and passed an order to begin the trial.

But it got barred as most of the accused appealed to the higher court challenging legality of the order.

On January 31, 2022, after clearing the appeals, District and Sessions Court Judge AHM Habibur Rahman Bhuiyan recorded the statement of plaintiff, then Sub-Inspector of Savar police station Wali Ashraf.

Over the tragic incident then SI of Savar police station Wali Ashraf filed a murder case accusing the owner and others of dereliction and negligence in building construction.

On June 1, 2015, Assistant Superintendent of Crime Investigation Department (CID) of police Bijoy Krishna Kar submitted a charge sheet in the case against 41 people including the building owner Sohel Rana.

A total of 594 people were made witnesses in this case.