Chittagong, Bangladesh (BBN)-The owner of the sunken launch that capsized in Padma River of Bangladesh with over 200 passengers on board on August 4, has been arrested in Chittagong early Wednesday.
A joint team of Rapid Action Battaion-7 and 11 made the arrest at a house in Agrabad Housing area of Chittagong, the port city of Bangladesh, around 3:30am, Rab officials said.
Abu Bakar Siddique, 60, the owner of Pinak-6 went into hiding after the launch capsised near Mawa terminal of Munshiganj, a central district of Bangladesh.
Siddique was shifted to the Rab headquarters in Dhaka and he will be sent to Munshiganj after a press conference, the sources added.
The launch carrying over 200 passengers against the capacity of 85 capsized in the middle of the river near Mawa Terminal in Lauhajang upazila of Munshiganj on August 4.
Eight days after the tragedy, the operation of spotting the sunken launch was called off on August 11,
So far, bodies of 48 passengers of the ill-fated launch were recovered from different parts of Padma and Meghna rivers including Bhola, Shariatpur, Barisal, Chandpur, Mawa in Munshiganj, Laxmipur and Madaripur districts.
Meanwhile, 61 more passengers who still remain missing are presumed as dead by the authorities.
The bodies are believed to be trapped inside the sunken launch.
BBN/JF/AD-13Aug14-12:00pm (BST)
