HC order: Tk 5 lakh each to families of 5 workers killed in Banshkhali

The High Court (HC) has ordered the authorities concerned to provide five lakh taka to each of the families of the 5 workers killed in clashes with the police at Banshkhali's coal-fired power plant in Chattogram.

A HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Sardar Mohammad Rashed Jahangir issued the order on Tuesday.

At the same time, the court issued a rule asking why compensation of Tk 3 crore should not be provided to the families of each worker killed in the clash, and Tk 2 crore to the families of each injured worker.

The court also asked why further judicial inquiry of the incident should not be ordered.

Besides this, the court also asked the 2 individual investigation committees formed under the leadership of the Deputy Commissioner (DC), and the Superintendent of Police (SP) of the district, to submit their reports within the next 45 days.

Advocates Z I Khan Panna, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, and Sayeda Nasrin appeared in court representing the 2 writ petitions filed, while Advocate Arshadur Rauf represented the S Alam Group in court.

Deputy Attorney General Arvind Kumar Roy and Bipul Baghmar represented the state at the hearing.

Earlier on April 22, Advocate Sayeda Nasrin filed a writ petition with the HC on behalf of Ain O Shalish Kendra,seeking directives for a judicial inquiry into the incident in which 5 workers were killed in a clash with police at Banshkhali's coal-fired power plant in Chattogram.

In the writ petition, the police have been asked to pay tk 3 crore to the families of each worker killed in the clash, and tk 2 crore to the families of each injured worker.

Besides, HC directives have been sought to file a criminal case against those involved in the incident.

Later on April 27, 5 more organizations filed writ petitions with the HC over the same incident.

The organizations are Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), Neejera Kori, Safety and Rights and Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD).

In the writ petitions, the organizations urged the HC to provide directives to suspend all work at the under construction coal-fired power plant until an investigation into the deaths of 5 workers in clashes with police is completed.

A request has been submitted to the Labour Department to assess the overall condition of workers in Banshkhali.

The organisations also sought HC directives to order the 2 inquiry committees headed by the DC and SP respectively, to provide their reports on the deaths of the 5 workers killed in the clashes.

The HC conducted hearings of both the writs filed at the same time on Tuesday.

On April 17, five workers were killed and many were injured as workers clashed with police at an under-construction power plant, owned by the S Alam Group and China-based SEPCO3, in Chattogram's Banshkhali.

The clash took place between workers and police when workers were staging protests over several demands, including raising wages and reducing work hours in the morning.The deceased have been identified as Shuvo (23), Mohammad Rahat (24), Ahmed Reza (19), Roni Hossain (22), and Raihan (20).