DHAKA, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Three days after a devastating fire killed seven female workers of a clothing factory, the Detective Branch of Bangladesh Police has arrested the owner and the chief executive who were sued over the incident, an official said Wednesday.
Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Detective Branch of Bangladesh Police told Xinhua, "Sharif Ahmed, chairmen, and Zakir Ahmed, managing director, of the Smart Export Garments Limited were arrested Tuesday evening."
Tuesday's arrests came after three organizations of garment workers launched a two-hour sit-in in front of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) building in the capital Monday slapped a 48-hour ultimatum on the government to arrest the owners of Tazreen Fashion Ltd and Smart Export Garments Ltd.
The organizations threatened to besiege the government's Labour Directors' Office on Feb. 3 if their demands were not met by the deadline.
Saturday's blaze came around two months after the country's worst industrial fire at Ashulia on the outskirts of capital Dhaka, which claimed at least 112 lives at Tazreen Fashions on Nov. 24.
At a time when demand of clothing workers is getting louder, a petition was lodged Tuesday with the Bangladesh's High Court Division to the government to arrest the owners of the two factories.
In the petition, Eunus Ali Akand, an apex court lawyer, alleged that the ill-fated workers were killed due to the negligence of the owners in taking adequate safety measures in their factories.
But the owners of the garment factories have not been arrested yet, he said.
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