Owner of trawler capsized in Meghna remanded

A Munshiganj court today placed Zakir Dewan, owner of the trawler that capsized in Meghna River with 35 workers on Tuesday, on one day remand in connection with a case in this regard.

The Cognizance Court-5 in Munshiganj passed the order after Arshed Ali, investigation officer, of the case produced the accused before the court seeking seven days remand prayer.

The sand-laden trawler, carrying 34 workers from Cumilla, sank in the river at Charjhapta in Sadar upazila after it collided with an oil-laden tanker while heading towards Fatullah in Narayanganj on the day.

Of the 35 workers hailing from Pabna and Sirajganj, 14 managed to swim ashore but the rest went missing.

Soon after the accident, divers of Bangladesh Navy, Fire Service, BIWTC, Coast Guard and River Police started rescue operation and to locate the trawler in the river.

After carrying massive search in the river to locate the trawler and rescue its missing workers for the last six days, Munshiganj district administration this afternoon announced postponement of the rescue operation.

Munshiganj Deputy Commissioner Saila Farzana said, “The rescue operation was on spontaneously for the last six days, but we failed to locate the trawler and rescue the rest missing workers. The rescue operation was called off and we will resume it if any clue is sighted.”

Bodies of 2 missing workers found

The bodies of two workers, who along with the 18 others went missing after the trawler capsized were recovered from the river on Sunday, six days after the incident.

The deceased were identified as Rahmat Ali, 39, of Ullapara in Sirajganj, and Rafiqul Islam, 37, of Bhangura upazila in Pabna district.

Earlier on Friday, a case was filed accusing three people including drivers of the two trawlers in connection with the accident.

But police could not arrest the drivers as they went into hiding immediately after the accident.