First, it was the Bangladesh Army and then the Jamaat-backed interim government, led by Muhammad Yunus, who failed to prevent looting and arson attacks on the Gazi Tyres factory in Narayanganj. They also showed reluctance to ensure a fair investigation and justice for the 182 victims who have remained missing since August 25 last year.
The factory, located at the Ruposhi intersection next to the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway, is owned by Golam Dastagir Gazi, a freedom fighter and former minister of the Awami League government.
The anti-government protesters looted the factory for four days starting from August 5, 2024, and set some buildings on fire.
After the police arrested Golam Dastagir on August 25, hundreds of people from the nearby areas stormed the factory. This time, they looted everything, with people returning home with valuables on hired trucks, pickup vans and rickshaws.
Amidst the looting, some of the looters set a six-storey building on fire, and the blaze engulfed the building quickly, leaving over 200 people trapped. It took firefighters five days to extinguish it, when only a few people were rescued, and at least 182 believed to be burned to death.
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From the next morning, relatives of the missing individuals began to gather at the factory entrance, prompting the administration to start registering the names of the missing, taking their photos and national ID cards from their families.
It could not be known whether the missing persons were on the list of July martyrs.
Similar attacks were reported across the country amid a wave of mob rule: looting, arson attacks, robberies and occupation of establishments owned by the Awami League supporters, including Hindu minority communities.
In Jashore, the five-star hotel Zabeer International was looted and torched by the students and other protesters on August 5, when 19 of the looters were trapped and killed in the fire. The Yunus regime has included their names in the list of July martyrs, drawing severe criticism.
Five visitors and staff were also killed in the fire and at least 25 were injured.
Maruf Hossain, an HSC examinee of Jashore City College, who was among the protesters, said: “Some of our protesters were unruly. They entered the hotel alongside the protesters. We mainly went to see the hotel. But those unruly boys went upstairs by the staircase. Some of them torched the hotel. As a result, some of my friends got stranded and got charred.”
Probe report
According to the investigation report, when the news of Golam Dastagir’s arrest spread, an announcement was made over the loudspeaker at around 11am, asking people to gather at the Ruposhi bus stand at around 3pm.
The miscreants then drove the workers, officials and employees out of the factory and started looting. Then, clashes broke out between multiple groups outside and inside the factory. Again, an announcement was made over the loudspeaker of the mosque that robbers had entered the factory, and an appeal was made to resist them. This further increased the looting.
At around 10:30pm, a group of looters set fire to the ground floor of the building and locked the gate shutters before leaving. Many people were in the upper part of the building at that time. Since the building contained flammable materials, the fire quickly spread to each floor. It took five days to completely extinguish the fire. As the building was at risk from the fire that had been burning for a long time, rescue operations could not be carried out there.
The probe committee had recommended that the bones be identified through proper procedures and handed over to the relatives. However, no rescue operation or initiative has been taken in the building in the last one year.
Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police Mehedi Islam said the search is underway. Speaking at his office at Rupganj Police Station on August 19, he told bdnews24.com: โWe 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.โ
However, he acknowledged that no one on the missing list has been identified so far.
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