Various committees, organisations start investigation

In addition to law enforcement agencies, an eight-member committee formed by the Cabinet Division has also started an investigation to unearth the cause behind the fire at building no-7 of the Secretariat.

The government has formed the new committee after canceling the initially formed seven-member committee. Senior secretary of the Home Ministry has been made the convener of the committee while the director general (DG) of the Department of Fire Service and Civil Defence has been made the member secretary.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) have been conducting investigations since Thursday (December 26) evening. On Friday (December 27) morning, officials from various units of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) also visited the damaged building. The CID’s forensic team came to collect evidence.

The fire broke out at the Secretariat on Wednesday (December 25) night. The fire was completely brought under control after 10 hours of hectic efforts by 19 units of the fire service.

The fire destroyed the documents of the Road Transport and Highways Division of the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry, two divisions of the Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Ministry, the Posts and Telecommunications Division of the Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministry, the Youth and Sports Ministry, and the Labour and Employment Ministry.

A DMP policeman in charge of the secretariat's security said DMP Commissioner Sheikh Md Sajjat Ali inspected the damaged building on Friday morning. The DMP's Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit also visited the spot.

At the same time, members of the government-formed investigation committee also visited the scene after a meeting at the Home Ministry.

The meeting was attended by Senior Secretary of the Home Ministry Osman Gani, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Baharul Alam, Secretary of the Housing and Public Works Ministry Md Hamidur Rahman, DG of the Fire Service Brigadier General Muhammad Zahed Kamal, Professor Tanvir Manjur of the Civil Engineering Department of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, and eight members of the investigation committee.

Visiting the spot on Friday, this correspondent found that building number 7, which was burnt in the fire, is still surrounded. The investigation officers are conducting inquiries into all possible issues. Senior officials of various intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies were also present.


Inspector Prashant Kumar Debnath of the CID's forensic team said various evidences have been seized from the damaged building yesterday (Thursday). A search is being conducted in the vicinity today in search of new evidence.

After the inspection, Brigadier General Muhammad Zahed Kamal, Director General of the Department of Fire Service and Civil Defence and also Member Secretary of the Investigation Committee, told reporters, "We inspected the damaged building today. The investigation has only begun. The investigation is ongoing. The members of the investigation committee will meet again on Saturday (December 28).”

He said, "It is not yet time to comment on whether the fire incident was sabotage or an accident. We are monitoring the issues. The rest can be said after thorough investigation."