A high-powered Cabinet Division committee on Friday started its investigation into the fire incident at the Bangladesh Secretariat that gutted one of its buildings housing offices of five ministries, destroying and damaging numerous documents.
In the morning, probe committee members visited the damaged Building No 7 and held a meeting.
They are also scheduled to have another meeting today, committee members said.
Religious affairs adviser AFM Khalid Hossain, meanwhile on Friday, at a programme held in Chattogram city said that after assuming responsibility the interim government was facing challenges one after another.
Citing the fire incident at the secretariat, he alleged that the government was constantly facing hurdles through agitations related to numerous issues and sabotage attempts.
The adviser warned that no saboteurs would be spared, read a press release issued by the religious affairs ministry.
A fire broke out in Building No 7 at the secretariat,聽 the administrative headquarters of the government in the capital, gutting offices and documents of five ministries early Thursday.
Fire service doused the fire in 10 hours while one firefighter was killed in a road accident during operations to extinguish the fire with four others received injuries.
Environment adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan, at a press conference on Thursday, announced the formation of a high-powered eight-member committee to trace the source and cause of the fire.
The committee would submit a preliminary report on the fire incident in the next three days, she added.
Home ministry senior secretary Nasimul Ghani is heading the probe committee with fire service and civil defence director general Brigadier General Muhammad Jahed Kamal being the member secretary.
The committee鈥檚 other members are inspector general of police Baharul Alam; three Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology teachers as explosive experts鈥攃ivil engineering professor Tanvir Manjur, chemical engineering associate professor Md Easir Arafat Khan, and electrical and electronic engineering associate professor Yeasir Arafat; housing and public works ministry secretary Md Hamidur Rahman Khan; and Brigadier General Mahbubur Russel.
Besides the cabinet division committee, four other probe committees have been formed in the incident鈥攖he labour ministry formed two, the Local Government Division formed one, and the Rural Development and Cooperatives Division formed the rest one.
Since Friday morning Bangladesh Army, police and Armed Police Battalion personnel were seen deployed surrounding the secretariat.
Fire Service and Civil Defence chief Brigadier General Muhammad Jahed Kamal,聽 while leaving the secretariat after their visit of the place of incident,聽 told reporters that the committee was not yet in a position to comment whether the fire was an act of sabotage or not.
He also mentioned that the committee members would meet in another meeting today.
According to witnesses鈥� accounts, the fire originated at the west part of Building No 7 at about 2:00am on Thursday and just after that a fire was also spotted at the east part of the building.
The offices of posts and telecommunications adviser Nahid Islam and local government and youth and sports adviser Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan were located in the opposite ends of the building.
The fire completely gutted the offices and documents of three ministries.
The offices and documents of the two other ministries, labour and employment, and road transport and bridges, were also severely damaged.
