Fire service begins draining water from basement of Dhanmondi 32 building

Firefighters have begun pumping out water from the flooded basement of an under-construction building next to the partially demolished house of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Dhanmondi Road No. 32.

Three units of the fire service began the work around 9am on Sunday and the operation was still ongoing as of 1:30pm, according to Md Afnan Islam Limon, duty officer at Mohammadpur Fire Station.

“The fire service personnel have solely been tasked with draining out the water. We’ve no idea about anything other than that,” he said.

The building is located within the boundaries of Bangabandhu’s residence. According to local residents, it belonged to the Centre for Research and Information, or CRI, the Awami League’s research wing.

Photos and video footage of the under-construction building’s basement began circulating on social media a day after agitated crowds tore down Bangabandhu’s house on Wednesday.

Amid rumours that the building housed the controversial ‘Ayna Ghor’ interrogation facility, authorities have moved to clear the waterlogging in its basement.

Exactly six months after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country, protesters began tearing down her father’s house in Dhanmondi as part of the “Bulldozer March” programme.

After more than half of the structure was levelled, people swooped in to loot and ransack the site throughout the day. It was followed by a mass feast, called Jeyafat, during which a cow was slaughtered at the location.

On Friday, people were seen using hacksaws and hammers to remove steel rods from the building, while others dug into the ground to grab electric cables.

The programme was held across the country, as protesters vandalised and destroyed statues and murals of Bangabandhu and his family.

The homes of several Awami League leaders and numerous party offices in various districts were also attacked and set ablaze.