Two persons were arrested on charges of torching a garment factory in Dhaka's Mirpur area, after stealing apparel products worth over Tk 43 lakh on February 15, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) said today.

The arrestees are Md Shahidul Islam (43) and Md Ariful Islam (20), both from Patuakhali district.

The arrests were made when a team of Rab-4 conducted a raid in front of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute in Gazipur yesterday, Mozammel Haque, commanding officer of Rab-4, told The Daily Star.

The Rab members also seized women and men's trousers, and boys' shirts worth Tk 43,22,065 from their possession.

On February 7, the owner of Neela Fashion House stored products worth over Tk 64 lakh inside the factory at Pallabi, the Rab official said.

On February 15, the factory caught fire, Mozammel said, quoting the owner of the factory.

When he rushed to the factory, he found everything gutted; the estimated price of the destroyed products was over Tk 20 lakh, the Rab official added.

Upon investigation, Rab members collected CCTV footage and found that a group of 10 to 12 people entered the factory and took away 96 cartons, said the Rab official.

A legal process is underway against the duo.