The police filed a case on Tuesday with the Ramna police station over the explosion in a Moghbazar building, mentioning seven entities and an individual as suspects for their ‘negligence’ that led to the blast killing eight people.

The statement of the case, filed under section 304 A of the Penal Code which deals with death by negligence, mentioned as suspects the owner of the three-storey building, tenants Shawrma House, Bengal Meat, Grand Confectionary and Singer Electronics,  Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, the power distribution agency concerned and the city corporation.

The preliminary investigation of the police suggested that ‘leaked gas’ was the main reason for the blast that took place in the building, opposite to the  Moghbazar branch of Aarong, on Shaheed Sangbadik Selina Parvin Road Sunday evening.

The Department of Explosives detected the presence of hydrocarbon at ‘a risky level’ at the blast site on Monday and also traced leak in a Titas gas supply line.

In his case, police sub-inspector Md Rezaul Karim alleged that either the mismanagement of the owner of the building or unauthorised gas lines and electrical equipment and negligence of one of four tenants or faulty and negligent gas supply of Titas or faulty power supply of the distribution agency or unplanned and negligent drain management works of the city corporation might have resulted in the death and injury of many people.

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›  Explosion leaves 7 killed, scores wounded in Bangladesh capital
The death toll from the blast rose to eight on Tuesday as the body of a security guard of the building, Harunur Rashid, 71, was recovered from under the rubble by the fire service at around 3.30pm, said Fire Service deputy director Debasis Bardhan.

Harunur had remained missing since the blast which also damaged some adjacent buildings and vehicles on the road.

His body was sent to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for post-mortem examinations.

At least six people were killed within hours of the blast and another succumbed to his injuries Monday morning.

Over 70 people took treatments in different hospitals, including Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, said the fire service.

A committee formed by the Police Headquarters visited the damaged building Tuesday afternoon and ruled out any possibilities of a sabotage.

The committee chief, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism unit additional commissioner Asaduzzaman, said that they too detected methane at the site on Tuesday.

The blast site was tested with a gas detector and the presence of methane at a rate of 12-13 per cent was detected there, the police officer said.

The chief explosive inspector of the Department of Explosives, Abul Kalam Azad, said that natural gas might have accumulated inside a closed room, sparking the blast.