The Dhaka South City Corporation has closed the Keari Crescent Tower in Dhaka’s Jigatola for illegally allowing restaurants to operate in space allocated for commercial offices.

DSCC Executive Magistrate Md Jahangir Alam conducted the raid on the building at 2:30pm on Monday.

The building was approved to house commercial offices but was largely taken up by restaurants, Alam said.

The building’s fire escape path was also blocked.

“The building has two staircases. The one leading to the roof was shut. The other staircase was blocked by gas cylinders. That is why we have shuttered the building.”

A visa processing institution was also fined Tk 300,000 during the raid.

“They set up an office on two floors of the building,” Alam said. “But the rooms are very congested and there is no system allowing light or air to circulate inside. If there is a disaster, the people inside will not be able to get out.”

Three members of the institution were detained and are now in police custody.