Milestone Tragedy: Case Filed Against 16 People, Including Muhammad Yunus

An application has been filed in court against 16 people, including former interim government chief adviser Muhammad Yunus, alleging negligence over the airplane crash at Milestone School and College in Uttara, Dhaka.

The application was submitted on Thursday to the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ariful Islam by Usaimong Marma, the father of deceased student Ukya Chaing Marma.

The plaintiff’s lawyer A K M Sharif Uddin said the court recorded the plaintiff’s statement and informed that the order would be given later.

Others sought to be accused in the case are Yunus government law adviser Asif Nazrul, environment adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan, education adviser C R Abrar, chief adviser’s press secretary Shafiqul Alam, former education secretary Siddique Zobayer, the secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmud Khan, Air Vice Marshal Morshed Mohammad Khayer Ul Afsar, Group Captain Rifat Akhtar Ziku, Milestone School and College governing body adviser retired Colonel Nurnabi, principal Mohammad Ziaul Alam, principal (administration) Masud Alam, school section principal Rifat Nabi, the chairman of RAJUK, and RAJUK field supervisor (Uttara).

According to the details of the case application, like every day, the students of Milestone School and College went to school on July 21 last year. On that day, at around 1:18 PM, the defective training aircraft F-7 BGI, which was under the direct responsibility and supervision of the accused, was ordered to take off. When a novice pilot flew the warplane alone, it crashed into Milestone School and College due to a “technical fault.”

It is stated in the application that 35 people, including 28 students, three female teachers, three guardians, and one director, were killed in the incident. In addition, 172 people suffered severe burn injuries and became permanently disabled.

It is further stated that the absence of firefighting arrangements at the institution and the failure to construct the building according to proper regulations severely obstructed rescue operations. As a result, although rescue workers started assisting in the rescue mission, the students died before they could be taken to the hospital.

The application states that Muhammad Yunus, who was serving as head of government at the time of the incident, was also in charge of the armed forces and the Ministry of Defence. The crashed warplane was under his authority and control. After the accident, the chief adviser announced that the affected families would receive maximum compensation. However, he allegedly neglected his duties, broke promises, and committed deception.

The application alleges that Asif Nazrul, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, C R Abrar, and Shafiqul Alam were grossly negligent in arranging hospital treatment and equipment for burn victims and in directing and supervising rescue operations.

The allegations against Hasan Mahmud Khan, Morshed Mohammad Khayer Ul Afsar, and Rifat Akhtar Ziku are that Air Force aircraft operate under their instructions and permission. Instead of fulfilling their assigned duties, they permitted defective warplanes to fly over densely populated areas such as Dhaka city.

The allegations against Nurnabi, Mohammad Ziaul Alam, Masud Alam, and Rifat Nabi are that Milestone School and College has been operated under their authority and supervision. Driven by “greed,” they allegedly failed to ensure adequate safety measures, emergency exits, safe stairways, or evacuation routes, and operated the institution recklessly, resulting in such massive loss of life.

The allegations against the chairman of RAJUK and the RAJUK field supervisor (Uttara) are that due to their failure to properly carry out their assigned responsibilities, Nurnabi, Ziaul Alam, Masud Alam, and Rifat Nabi continued and still continue to operate the school and college in a “dangerous and unsuitable building.” Although the institution was not fit for educational operations, they granted permission, and in some cases remained silent, thereby allowing the institution to continue operating.

The case application also alleges that former education secretary Siddique Zobayer failed to properly perform his duties, enabling Nurnabi, Ziaul Alam, Masud Alam, and Rifat Nabi to operate the institution in an “unsuitable building.”