Bodies of six Bangladeshis killed in Kolkata hotel fire return home
Shikha Inn owner arrested over deadly blaze.
The bodies of six of the seven Bangladeshi nationals killed in a hotel fire in Kolkata on 19 August were brought back to Bangladesh today (22 August), while the seventh victim was cremated in Kolkata at her family's request.
The Bangladeshis were among nine people killed in the fire at Shikha Inn on Mirza Ghalib Street in central Kolkata.
In a statement today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the body of SM Alimuzzaman Saju of Satkhira was repatriated through the Ghojadanga-Bhomra border in the morning and handed over to his family.
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The bodies of journalist Debashish Dutta, his wife Afsana Sharmin, their nearly three-year-old son Swarnashish Dutta and Afsana's father Md Akram Ali, all from Kushtia, were brought back through the Petrapole-Benapole border this afternoon. Babu Ahmed of Aminbazar in Dhaka was also repatriated through the same route.
The Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata assisted the families with the preservation, transportation and repatriation of the bodies, the ministry said.
The seventh Bangladeshi victim, Rebati Sarker, 35, of Satkhira, was cremated in Kolkata on Friday night in line with her family's wishes. The mission also provided financial and other assistance for the cremation.
The foreign ministry expressed condolences to the bereaved families.
Bodies taken to Kushtia; Saju buried
After completing legal procedures, the bodies of Debashish and his family members left Benapole for Kushtia at around 5:30pm, family sources said.
Preparations were made to cremate Debashish and his son Swarnashish at Kushtia Mahashmashan, while Afsana and Akram were to be buried at a municipal cemetery in Thanapara.
Debashish, 39, was the Kushtia correspondent for Ajker Patrika and Channel 9 and executive editor of local newspaper Ajker Alo.
Meanwhile, Saju's body was buried in his home village of Bareya in Kaliganj upazila. His janaza was held after Asr prayers, followed by burial at around 5:30pm, family members said.
Saju was a businessman from Bareya village under Tarali Union.
The fire at Shikha Inn broke out in the early hours of 19 August. The fire brigade received information about the blaze at around 2:07am and began rescue operations a minute later. Five fire tenders were deployed, and the blaze was brought under control.
Police also identified the two Indian victims as 19-year-old Sandip Paswan from Jharkhand and 68-year-old Yog Narayan Aggarwal from Siliguri.
Hotel owner arrested
Kolkata Police today arrested Shikha Inn owner Bireswar Mitra at his residence on Diamond Harbour Road in Behala in connection with the fire, PTI reported.
Police said Mitra had fled Kolkata for Dhanbad in Jharkhand after the incident and remained incommunicado for several days. He returned to his residence today, where police arrested him.
Investigators suspect he returned after facing a cash shortage following the freezing of two of his bank accounts. Police are questioning him over the circumstances of his departure and return.
According to police, several rooms with attached bathrooms had been constructed within around 1,100 square feet of the hotel, allegedly without complying with fire safety requirements.
Police had searched Mitra's two other hotels in Digha and Mandarmani on Friday but did not find him.
Earlier, Abu Zafar, who had leased Shikha Inn from Mitra for Rs40,000 a month, was arrested in connection with the fire.
