Chawkbazar restaurant owner remanded over 6 deaths, families wait at morgue

A Dhaka court on Tuesday placed Fakhar Uddin, the owner of Barishal Hotel and Restaurant, on one-day remand in a case filed over the fire incident in old Dhaka's Chawkbazar area that claimed six lives.

Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Jashim passed the order after the police produced the arrestee before the court with a plea for a seven-day remand.

Police detained the owner on Tuesday morning after a fire broke out in his restaurant and killed its six staffers on Monday.

Earlier, Mohammad Ali, brother of victim Rubel Hilal who died in the tragic incident, filed a case at Chawkbazar police station as the plaintiff.

Police have not yet arrested the other accused in this case – Mohammad Rana.

Dhaka Deputy Commissioner Md Shahidul Islam visited the families of the six victims at Mitford Hospital on Tuesday afternoon. He provided the families with the financial aid of Tk1.5 lakh, each family receiving Tk25,000, for the burial of the deceased.

The deceased are – Billal Sardar, 35, of Barishal's Muladi; Osman Sardar, 25, of Shariatpur; Md Sharif, 15, of Cumilla's Chandina; Shwapan Sarkar, 18, of Habiganj's Bamoin; Rubel Hilal, 28, of Madaripur's Kalkini; and Motaleb, 16, of Bairshal.

Besides, the Ministry of Labour has announced support of Tk2 lakh to each family of the victims who died in the fire, according to a notification issued by the ministry on Tuesday.

Earlier, six bodies were recovered from the ground floor following the tragic incident.

The bodies will be handed over to their families only after the DNA tests are done, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Lalbagh Division Deputy Commissioner Md Zafar Hossain.

The DNA sample of the body was collected by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police.

CID Special Superintendent of Police (Forensic) Nazmul Karim said the investigation unit will have to take court orders for DNA testing. There is a long queue at the lab, so it could take more than three months to complete the DNA reports of the six bodies.

According to officials, the fire ignited around 12pm from the ground floor of the building which housed the restaurant.

It took 10 firefighting units some three hours to douse the flames and recover the bodies that were burnt beyond recognition.

The victims were all restaurant workers. It is assumed that they were asleep after finishing their night shift when the fire engulfed the building, which did not have any emergency escape route or effective fire prevention measures.