Titas Gas suspends eight officials over Narayanganj mosque blasts

Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd on Monday suspended four engineers and four other employees over the deadly explosions at a mosque in Narayanganj’s Fatullah.

The company also asked the eight officials to explain why they will not be sacked for neglecting their duty, company’s Managing Director Ali Mohd Al-Mamun said on Monday, reports bdnews24.com.

The suspended engineers are: Manager for Fatullah Zone Mohammad Sirajul Islam, Deputy Manager Mahmudur Rahman Rabbi, Assistant Engineer SM Hasan Shahriars and Manik Mia.

The employees facing punishment are: Senior Supervisor Moniobur Rahman Chowdhury, Senior Development Officer Md Ayub Ali, and Assistants Hanif Mia and Ismail Prodhan.

As many as 27 victims of the incident died so far from burn injuries and 10 others were fighting for their lives at hospital.

Officials and locals blame gas from pipeline leaks for the explosions that occurred on September 4.

The authorities suspect the gas accumulated inside the mosque caused the blasts which were sparked by an electric short-circuit.

Members of the mosque’s governing body also alleged that Titas officials refused to repair the leaks without the payment of Tk 50,000.

The Fire Service and Civil Defence, district administration and Titas Gas are investigating the incident.

Earlier on Monday, Titas workers dug several spots at the mosque site and found two leaks at one place next to the building, said Mofizul Islam, the deputy general manager of Titas in Narayanganj.

Titas will restore the connection on Tuesday to confirm the finding, he added.

The neighbourhood has been without pipeline gas since the incident.

Earlier, Titas formed a five-member committee to investigate whether any gas leakage from its pipeline sparked the fire and subsequent AC blasts at a mosque in Narayanganj.

The committee, headed by General Manager of Titas Abdul Wahab, was asked to submit its report within five working days.