FR Tower design forgery: SC clears way for 2 Rajuk officials’ arrest

The Supreme Court today cleared way for the Anti-Corruption Commission to arrest two officials of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha in a case filed for forgery over the design of FR Tower in Dhaka’s Banani.

The two officials are Rajuk Inspector Aurangzeb Siddique Nannu and its Authorised Officer Md Nazrul Islam.

The SC also scrapped a High Court order that directed the two Rajuk officials to surrender before a lower court in six weeks in connection with a case.

A two-member bench of the Appellate Division of SC led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order following two writ petitions filed by the ACC against the HC order.

Following the SC order, there is no bar to arrest the two Rajuk officials in connection with the case, ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told The Daily Star.

The Anti-Corruption Commission had filed the corruption case against the two Rajuk officials and former Rajuk chairman KM Harun with Gulshan Police Station on October 7 last year.

According to the case statement, the three committed graft and forgery in connivance with each other to issue and approve an unauthorised design plan for the 23-storey FR Tower in the capital’s Banani.

A devastating fire in the building left at least 25 people dead and 73 others injured on March 28 this year.

The building owner constructed extra floors based on the design, which, according to the building construction rules, should not have been approved, the case statement said. 

The three are also accused of negligence and misusing power, said ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan, citing the case statement.

Earlier, the HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice KM Hafizul Alam on July 16 directed the two Rajuk officials to surrender before a lower court in six weeks in connection with the case.

The HC bench also rejected two separate petitions from Aurangzeb and Nazrul seeking anticipatory bail in the case.

The HC, however, granted a six-week anticipatory bail to the former Rajuk chairman Harun.

The HC bench asked Harun to surrender after six weeks before the Dhaka’s Metropolitan Senior Special Judge’s Court, which is hearing the case, said the ACC lawyer.