Dhaka Marine Court on Sunday issued warrants to arrest four owners of the launch MV Avijan-10 where a fire broke out on Friday killing scores of people.
Followed by a case filed by the Department of Shipping, Dhaka Marine Court Judge Joynab Begum issued the arrest warrant against four owners and four master drivers of the launch, said Shafiqur Rahman, Chief Inspector of the Department of Shipping.
Earlier in the day, Shafiqur filed the case with the court.
The accused in the case are four owners of the launch company Messars Al Araf and Company, Md Hamjalal Sheikh, Md Shamim Ahmed, Md Rasel Ahmed, and Ferdous Hasan Rabby, In-charge master of Avijan-10 Md Riaz Sikder, In-charge driver Masum Billah, second master Khalilur Rahman, second driver Abul Kalam, he said.
The shipping department has suspended the licenses of the launch and its drivers .
A three-member probe committee was formed on Sunday by the shipping department today that will submit a report within 15 working days after investigating the fire in the launch.
The blaze broke out at 3am on Friday on the Barguna-bound launch carrying some 800 passengers from Dhaka and it engulfed the entire vessel within 10 minutes.
The death toll from the fire incident climbed to 41 on Saturday night. Besides, over 70 people suffered injuries and many of them are undergoing treatment at different hospitals.
However, the exact number of passengers travelling by the launch and the missing passengers is yet to known.
Source: United News of Bangladesh