Pinak-6 owner, son land in jail

UNB, Munshiganj :A court here on Thursday sent Abu Bakkar Siddique, owner of the Pinak-6 launch which capsized in the PadmaRiver, and his son Omar Faruk Limon to jail.Judicial Magistrate Harun-ur-Rashid passed the order when police produced them before his court on completion of their four-day remand.Sub-inspector Julhas Uddin of Lauhajang Police Station, also the investigation officer of the case, said Bakkar and Limon during their remand agreed to give statement under Section 164.However, they refused to make the statement when they were brought to the court yesterday, he said, adding that the court later sent them to jail. On Monday, the same court placed the duo on the four-day remand in the launch capsize case.Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested Abu Bakkar at Agrabad in Chittagong city on August 13 while Limon from a house in Dhaka city’s Khilkhet area on August 15.The overloaded launch Pinak-6 with over 250 passengers on board from Kawrakandi capsized in the Padma River, 800 yards off Mawaghat (jetty) around 11:15 am on August 4 due to strong currents while it was heading towards the jetty.Forty-eight bodies were recovered from the Meghna and Padma rivers till August 12 after the launch capsized in the mighty river.Of the bodies, 27 were handed over to the victims’ family members for burial while 17 unidentified bodies were buried in Shibchar municipality graveyard in Madaripur.According to a list of the district administration, 62 passengers of the ill-fated launch are still missing. The operation to salvage the sunken launch was abandoned on August 11citing rough weather.