The Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) filed Sunday a case against 17 persons including the Mayor of Savar Municipality Md Refatullah for allowing construction of Rana Plaza building with a faulty design.
ACC deputy director SM Mafidul Islam filed the case with Savar Police Station, the anti-graft watchdog public relations officer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya told the reporters on the day.
On Thursday last, the ACC approved filing of the case against the accused excluding the building owner Sohel Rana. At least 1,135 people were killed, mostly readymade garment workers, in the incident at Savar on the outskirts of the capital.
The other accused in the case are: Rana's parents-Abdul Khaleque and Marjina Begum, commissioner Haji M Ali Khan (Ward 7, Savar), architect ATM Masud Reza, Engr Sajjad Hossain, former Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Savar Uttam Kumar Roy, executive engineer Rafiqul Islam, former assistant engineer Mahbubur Rahman, former deputy assistant engineer Raqibul Hasan Rasel, former town planner of Savar Farzana Islam, licence inspector Md Abdul Mottalib, former secretaries of the Municipality Morzina Khan and Md Abul Bashar, businessmen Md Aminul Islam, Bazlus Samad, and Md Anisur Rahman.
A probe by the ACC has found that the nine-storey Rana Plaza was not approved by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) though Rajuk's approval was mandatory for constructing such a big building.
Meanwhile, ACC Commissioner M Sahabuddin opposed the comment of Dr Kamal Hossain over exclusion of Sohel Rana from the Commission's accused list.
He said the Commission cannot include a name just from allegation as the Rana Plaza building is registered in the name of his parents.
"We found that the owner of Rana Plaza is the parents of Sohel Rana. That is why, he was not included in the accused list. We could include him during investigation if we get his involvement in the incident," Mr Sahabuddin told the reporters at a briefing at the ACC head office in the city.
Noted jurist Dr Kamal Hossain alleged recently that the ACC excluded the name of Sohel Rana from the accusation list though he is the prime accused of the incident.
