A top Bangladesh court has ordered the government to confiscate the property of owner of the collapsed building, home to garment factories “immediately”, as thousands of protesters demanding death penalty for the man clashed with police, leaving 100 people injured.
A two-judge panel of the High Court on Tuesday also asked the central bank to freeze the assets of the owners of the five garment factories in the building, and use the money to pay the salaries and other benefits of their workers.
The order came after police produced Mohammed Sohel Rana and the factory owners in court. The order did not elaborate but it was implied that the salaries of the dead victims would be paid to their relatives. The court has given the police 15 days to interrogate Rana.
At least 386 people were killed and 2,500 people escaped with injuries when the illegally constructed eight-storey Rana Plaza collapsed on April 24.
According to one estimate, about 1,000 people are still missing, indicating that the death toll could end up in the neighbourhood of 1,400.The collapse has become the deadliest disaster to hit Bangladesh’s garment industry, which is worth $20bn annually and supplies global retailers.
