BIWTA files case against Moyur-2 owner and operator
Police officials have seized the vessel but were unable to arrest the launch operator as he managed to escape
The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) has filed a case against the owner of the launch MV Moyur-2 and its operator over the accident in the Buriganga river that killed 32 people on Monday.
Police officials have seized the vessel but were unable to arrest the launch operator as he managed to escape.
Chairman of BIWTA, Commodore Golam Sadeq, said "We will take tougher action against the culprits soon."
"We have already cancelled the route permit of all vessels owned by Moyur shipping company, which has two vessels ─ MV Moyur-2 and MV Moyur-7.", Commodore Golam Sadeq added.
Commodore Sadeq also said that after watching the CCTV footage it seems to him that the operator of MV Moyur-2 hit MV Rishan Morning Bird intentionally.
He said that it is a busy route and no launch can run at such high speed here.
About salvage of the sunken vessel, he said, "Our salvage vessel Protya is ready for the salvage operation, but it cannot enter the Buriganga as it cannot pass under the Postogola bridge because the water level is high."
He said that the BIWTA is now trying to salvage MV Rishan Morning Bird manually using marine salvage lifting airbags. The BITWA tugboat, Argadut, will then pull the wreckage ashore once the lifters successfully help the sunken launch come afloat.
"We are trying our best to salvage the vessel within today (Monday)", the chairman said.
While inspecting the spot, State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said, "After watching the CCTV footage, it seemed like murder."
He also said that the accident is totally different from other incidents and seems pre-planned.
The minister also assured the families of the deceased passengers that they will receive taka 1.5 lac as compensation from BIWTA's naval disaster fund.
BIWTA and the Dhaka district administration will immediately provide taka 10, 000 and 20, 000 respectively to the families to the deceased passengers for their burial.
The bodies of thirty of the 32 deceased passengers have already been handed over to their families.
In the meantime, the shipping ministry and the BIWTA have formed separate investigation committees to look into the incident.
The 7-member committee formed by the shipping ministry will submit its investigation report on the incident within the next seven days.
