Bangladesh factory owner, Sohel Rana, linked to biker gang, guns and drugs
Building codes were unenforced, regulatory oversight is flimsy, and the warnings were all ignored as the owner of the Bangaladesh factory which collapsed, killing over 370 people, will face serious charges.
Now The Star reports on Wednesday that Sohel Rana, the owner, has ties to drugs, guns and a biker gang.
Rana “travelled by motorcycle, as untouchable as a mafia don, trailed by his own biker gang.”
Local officials and Bangladeshi media say he was involved in illegal drugs and guns, but he also had a building, Rana Plaza, that housed five factories.
“Upstairs, workers earned as little as $40 a month making clothes for retailers like JC Penney. Downstairs, Rana hosted local politicians, playing pool, drinking and, the officials say, indulging in drugs.”
Tuesday, a top Bangladeshi court seized his assets as the public bayed for his execution, especially as it appeared that the tragedy could have been averted if the frantic warnings of an engineer who examined the building the day before had been heeded.
“Money is his power,” said Ashraf Uddin Khan, a former Savar mayor, who accused Rana of being deeply involved in the drug trade. “Illegal money.”
Before Rana Plaza collapsed, Bangladesh was already in turmoil as opposition political parties staged nationwide strikes, known as hartals, that paralyzed the country and placed huge pressure on factory owners to meet deadlines.
Weeks earlier, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association warned that the hartals had cost Bangladesh as much as $500 million in business.
More on the Rana article here
men wielding power often travel with armed guards.