Two years on from a devastating industrial inferno that destroyed the Gazi Tyres manufacturing plant during political unrest, the families of 182 missing individuals remain trapped in administrative paralysis. Relatives have made repeated appeals to police stations, government offices, local lawmakers, and political leaders, yet they have received little beyond empty assurances. Without official declarations of death or formal certificates, dozens of impoverished households cannot secure inheritance documentation, access widow pensions, or obtain birth certificates for children born after the tragedy.
The disaster occurred in August 2024 at the expansive manufacturing complex situated along the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway in Rupganj Upazila. Owned by Golam Dastagir Gazi, a former Awami League minister and member of parliament, the site became a target for mass looting and arson following the fall of the Awami League administration on 5 August 2024.
An investigation conducted by the district administration revealed that the industrial complex suffered two distinct waves of violence. The initial outbreak took place between 5 August and 8 August 2024, causing structural fires and prompting the disconnection of the facility’s electricity and gas supplies. A second, far deadlier incident erupted on the night of 25 August, shortly after Golam Dastagir Gazi was arrested in Dhaka.
Following news of the owner’s arrest, large crowds entered the premises to loot valuable copper components and raw chemical stocks. According to an eight-member official inquiry committee led by former Additional District Magistrate Hamidur Rahman, intruders plundering the upper floors set fire to the ground-floor exit gates before fleeing, trapping hundreds of people inside. Fueled by highly combustible rubber reserves and chemical supplies, flames rapidly engulfed the six-storey building. Firefighters fought the blaze for 22 hours to bring it under control, though internal fires continued to burn for five days.
Extreme heat rendered the burnt structure unstable, preventing emergency teams from conducting a full search and rescue operation inside the main tower. A preliminary sweep of the basement yielded no casualties, after which official search efforts were permanently called off.
By 26 August 2024, hundreds of anxious local residents gathered outside the factory gates searching for family members who had entered the complex during the chaos and failed to return. Local authorities recorded their details, establishing an official list of 182 missing persons.
During a public hearing organised by the district administration on 1 September 2024, distraught relatives breached safety barriers to enter the ruins, eventually recovering 15 human bone fragments from the debris. The remains were handed to law enforcement for forensic examination by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). However, Tareq Al Mehdi, Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) for Narayanganj District, recently disclosed that DNA testing has not been performed on the bone fragments due to an absence of directives from higher authorities.
For the surviving families, the lack of legal closure has generated intense economic distress. Shahadat Sikdar, a 30-year-old electrician from Maikuli village, vanished in the fire alongside his 26-year-old brother Sabbir Sikdar and their brother-in-law Jamir Ali, 36. Shahadat’s son, Abdullah, was born three months after the disaster. Seventeen months on, the family remains unable to secure a birth certificate for the child because the father’s death cannot be officially registered.
“We know in our hearts that they are no longer alive,” said Cynthia Akhtar, Shahadat’s sister, who recently took a job at a local soap factory to sustain her family. “Because we do not have death certificates, we cannot obtain birth registrations or inheritance documents. My brother had outstanding microfinance loans, but lenders refuse to waive the debt without proof of death. Loan collectors come to our home every day demanding payment.”
Similar hardship faces Farzana, the 27-year-old widow of textile worker Mohammad Arif. Unable to afford rent following her husband’s disappearance, Farzana moved into her mother’s residence and withdrew her eldest son from kindergarten to enroll him in a crowded local state school.
For elderly mothers like Rashida Begum, whose son Aman Ullah, a battery factory worker, went missing at the site, the emotional toll remains overwhelming. “If they would just give me a piece of his bones, I could press it to my chest and find peace,” she wept. “We did not even receive his burnt ashes.”
Administrative inaction has further exacerbated the situation for affected families. While Gazi Tyres management lodged two criminal cases focusing strictly on property destruction and vandalism, neither case addressed the missing individuals. Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police (Rupganj-Araihazar Circle) Mehdi Islam stated that although law enforcement missed the opportunity to file a missing-persons case at the time, an official status report confirming that none of the 182 listed individuals could be traced has been submitted to the District Magistrate through the District Police Superintendent.
Family members explained that they initially hesitated to lodge police complaints out of fear, as local rumours suggested anyone who entered the factory would be branded a looter. Several relatives subsequently filed General Diaries (GDs) once stability returned to the area.
Narayanganj District Commissioner Md Rayhan Kabir acknowledged the persistent plight of the affected families, assuring that local authorities are coordinating with police to clear the administrative bottleneck and help relatives obtain essential legal documentation.
