Police file case over Moghbazar blast due to negligence

Police have filed a case today accusing unidentified persons of negligent death over the Moghbazar explosion. 

The case was lodged with Ramna Police Station by Sub-inspector Reazul Karim. 

According to the case statement, the explosion may have been caused by the mismanagement of the owner of the building, old electrical transmission line, faulty gas management, use of unauthorised gas and electrical materials from the tenant shops Sharma House and Bengal Meat or the unplanned drainage construction of the Dhaka North City Corporation.

The members of the police investigation committee on the incident visited the explosion spot earlier today. 

Initially, they held gas-air mixture in tight space responsible for the blast.

"Gas accumulated in a confined space and mixed with air makes an explosive agent that may have caused the destruction," one of the probe body members told The Business Standard. 

Earlier, police had formed a seven-member committee to investigate the incident and assess the damage.

The committee, headed by the Additional Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, will also make recommendations to stop the recurrence of such incidents, according to an order of police headquarters.

At least eight people, including a child, were killed and more than 100 people were injured in the blast that took place Sunday.

The explosion occurred on the ground floor of a three-storey building near Aarong Showroom in Moghbazar Wireless Gate area in the capital at around 7:30pm.

Meanwhile, the Fire Service and Civil Defense have formed a 5-member probe committee that has been asked to submit a report on the explosion within seven working days.

The blast reportedly damaged several adjacent commercial and private buildings alongside three buses.