3 bodies found at shopping centre

Three charred bodies were recovered from the second floor of Haji Ibrahim Shopping Centre in Shimrail area of Narayanganj on Monday.

Agitators torched the eight-storey building on Saturday during a clash with members of law enforcement agencies. The building was completely burnt.

The second floor of the building housed Shimrail Branch of Dutch Bangla Bank where several construction workers were working on its interior. When the clash broke out and the building was set on fire, all but the three of them were able to escape, said police.

Abu Bakar Siddique, officer-in-charge of Siddhirganj Police Station, said two injured workers, who were undergoing treatment at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, informed police that their three fellow workers got trapped in the building.

He said as the clash was going on, police and fire service personnel could not reach the building. On Monday, locals went into the building and found the bodies and informed police.

Police sent the bodies to Narayanganj Sadar Hospital morgue for autopsies.

The victims were Selim Mondol, 29, Abdul Salam, 27, of Kushtia's Kumarkhali upazila, and Md Sohel, 21, Sylhet's Beanibazar upazila.

Golam Mostofa Russel, superintendent of Narayanganj police, said the Shimrail highway police camp was on the 7th floor of the building. On July 20, some agitators threw stones at the camp and police opened fire.

At one point, the agitators set the building on fire. The trapped police personnel went to the roof and were rescued by a helicopter.