Although Rajuk officials had no engineering plan to knock down the much-talked about BGMEA building on the capital's Begunbari canal, they went to the site yesterday heavily equipped with demolition machinery.

After an eight-and-a-half year legal battle culminating in a victory for Rajuk, the capital development officials yesterday went to demolish the illegal 15-storey BGMEA building in a move which lacked coordination and was mired in confusion.

For four years, Rajuk has been silent on reported incidents of building approvals with forged signatures of the architects concerned, said the president of Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB) at a press conference yesterday.

Violating the then building rules, Rajuk in December 1996 approved an 18-storey high-rise in Banani, where the FR Tower stands today.

Nine out of 10 buildings in key areas of Dhaka city have been constructed flouting their approved designs, according to the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk).