-Baldia factory fire
-ATC hands death sentence to two MQM activist
-Declares two others, proclaimed offenders
-Hands life imprisonment to three factory guards
-MQM-P distances itself from the incident, says no involvement
From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi on Tuesday handed down death sentences to two Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activists, Zubair alias Charya and Abdul Rehman alias Bhola, in Baldia factory fire case.
In its written verdict, the court declared former in-charge of MQM’s Karachi Tanzeemi Committee Hammad Siddiqui and Ali Hassan Qadri as proclaimed offenders over their perpetual absence from the trial proceedings.
The ATC ordered to file a case against Hammad Siddiqui and Ali Hassan Qadri over their alleged involvement in the incident. The court also ordered to issue lifetime arrest warrants for Hammad Siddiqui and Ali Hassan Qadri in the factory fire case.
Three gatekeepers of the factory, Fazal Mehmood, Arshad Mehmood, and Ali Mohammad, and manager Shahrukh were handed life imprisonment for abetment.
However, the court acquitted MQM leader Rauf Siddiqui, then-provincial minister for commerce and industries, Iqbal Adeel Khanum and Abdul Sattar Khan in the factory inferno case
Moreover, An anti-terrorism case in Karachi on Tuesday has awarded death sentence to two accused including Rehman alias Bhola and Zubair aka Charya in Baldia factory fire case.
The anti-terrorism court, in its verdict, acquitted Muttahida Qaumi Movement- Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Rauf Siddiqui in the Baldia factory inferno case. The verdict was announced after eight years of the terrorising incident. Moreover, three gatekeepers of the factory, Fazal Mehmood, Arshad Mehmood, and Ali Mohammad, and manager Shahrukh were handed life imprisonment for abetment.
Former in-charge of MQM’s Karachi Tanzeemi Committee Hammad Siddiqui and Ali Hassan Qadri have been declared proclaimed offenders over their perpetual absence from the trial proceedings. The jail officials produced two accused persons including Rehman alias Bhola and Zubair alias Charya before the ATC in Baldia factory inferno case. Moreover, a senior leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Rauf Siddiqui also arrived in the court.
Strict security arrangements have been made in and around the court’s building and entry to unauthorised persons were closed in the court. The ATC was expected to announce its verdict in the Baldia factory fire case on September 7, however, it was postponed till September 22.
It is pertinent to mention here that on July 05, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) had stated in its conclusive report that the Baldia Town factory inferno incident was ‘a terrorism act’, rejecting it as an accident where more than 250 people had been burnt alive on September 11 – 2012 in Karachi. The investigators had revealed in the 27-page report that the factory had been torched by assailants over non-payment of Rs200 million as extortion money. They had also sought to provide protection to the witnesses of the incident. It emerged that Hammad Siddiqui and Rehman Bhola was directly involved in the terrorism incident which was previously dealt with a non-professional manner.
The JIT members had found out that many elements attempted internally and externally influence the investigation process in order to benefit the people behind the carnage.
Moreover, MQM-Pakistan leader Faisal Subzwari in a tweet quoted a spokesperson for his party as saying that the acquittal of Rauf Siddiqui, a member of Rabita Committee, in the case “proves that MQM-Pakistan has nothing to do with this case”.
The spokesperson expressed sympathies with the victims and their relatives for having to wait eight years for the verdict and expressed the hope that the country’s higher courts will ensure complete justice for them.
“We make it clear that patronage of any anti-social and law-breaking elements neither was nor will ever be a policy of MQM-Pakistan,” the spokesperson added, according to Subzwari.
Addressing a press conference shortly after the verdict was announced, MQM leader Rauf Siddiqui said that he had resigned from his post when the incident occurred. “People don’t let go of a cleaner’s job [but] I had resigned from my post.” He added that he was thankful for the decision announced by the court. “To this day, I can still hear the screams of the victim’s families.” He said that he was unable to forgot the night of the incident, which would come to his mind every time he had to appear in court.
Over 260 workers, including 16 who have yet to be identified, were burnt alive when the multi-storey Ali Enterprises garment factory was set on fire in Baldia Town on September 11, 2012 in what became the deadliest industrial blaze in Pakistan’s history.
Ten accused including Siddiqui; MQM’s then-Baldia Town sector in-charge Rehman; Zubair; Hyderabad-based businessmen Dr Khan; Umar Hasan Qadri; Khanum and the industrial unit’s four gatekeepers were charged with setting ablaze the factory.According to a joint investigation team report made public in July, the fire was not an accident rather a “planned sabotage/ terror activity” carried out over non-payment of Rs200 million extortion and partnership in factory profits.
The report held the then head of MQM’s Karachi Tanzeemi Committee Hammad Siddiqui and Rehman Bhola responsible for the incident. The JIT was critical of the initial police investigation into the case and observed that the police dealt it in an unprofessional manner and in a way to benefit “the offenders” instead of the victims for some “motives and gains”. It said the “fear and favour” were dominating factors in initial investigation, which affected the police performance “length and breadth”.
The JIT recommended a fresh FIR under terror charges against eight accused including Hammad Siddiqui. The prosecution rested its case after recording material evidence, including forensic, ballistic and chemical analysis reports and testimonies of 400 witnesses against the accused. The prosecution gave up 369 witnesses for being “unnecessary”.
According to prosecutor Sajid Mehboob Shaikh, a total of 264 people perished in the fire that engulfed the multi-storey building of the readymade garments manufacturing unit. The number included bodies of 17 people who were charred beyond recognition.
