ATC hands death sentence to two MQM workers in Baldia factory fire case; R. Siddiqui acquitted [#31]

[Eagle_Eye]

Muttahida Qaumi Movement worker Umair Siddiqui has admitted that a party sector incharge set the Baldia factory ablaze in 2012, Express News reported.
“Umair Siddiqui admitted MQM sector incharge Abdur Rahman set Baldia factory on fire,” a Rangers spokesperson said on Saturday.
Earlier, Rangers placed the blame of the Baldia factory fire on the MQM in a report submitted to the Sindh High Court. The deadly fire killed more than 259 factory workers.
In another significant development, inside sources said Siddiqui, who was arrested on February 15 from the surrounding areas of Nine Zero, is believed to be the person who tipped-off Rangers on the ‘illegal activities’ taking place inside the MQM headquarters.
Rangers carried out a raid on Nine Zero on March 11, arresting MQM workers and seizing arms found inside the headquarters.
Siddiqui was presented to the anti-terrorism court today.
“In 2015, to avoid raids, sector in charges were instructed to shift their weapons to the party headquarters in Nine Zero,” Siddiqui was quoted as saying, as mentioned in a press release issued by Rangers on Saturday.
“The weapons were transported from place to another in their Khidmat-e-Khalq ambulances.” The statement further said that Siddiqui admitted to buying weapons from Quetta for the party.
The statement said he killed 120 people in Karachi, including MQM worker Amer Khan’s nephew.
“Siddiqui admitted that MQM’s Anis Qaim Khani would order him to kill certain people and he would carry out the targeted killings.”
“On the orders of Karachi Tanzeemi Committee (KTC) member Hammad Siddiqui, Siddiqui formed a target killing team comprising of 32 workers,” the Rangers press release stated.
The press release further added the target killing team killed 120 MQM opponents.
“Siddiqui’s target killing team killed Rangers lance naik Shaukat as well as PPP’s Faisal Raza Abedi’s guard and MQM leader Amir Khan’s nephew", it added.
The statement clarified the target killers were not only tasked to kill MQM opponents but MQM workers as well.
Further, the press release stated, that Siddiqui admitted 60 to 70 MQM workers caste ‘fake’ votes in favour of MQM leader Faisal Sabzwari in the May 2013 elections.
Responding to the news, MQM chief Altaf Hussain disassociated himself with Umair, saying he did not know him.
“Media trial has been launched against MQM on gun point in the same manner as it was conducted in 1992,” the MQM chief added, in an interview to a private news channel.
Siddiqui has been handed over to the Rangers on a 90-day physical remand.
Rangers say that he confessed that MQM used to transport arms and ammunition in ambulances.
On September 24, 2014, Rangers conducted a raid at an MQM office of and rounded up dozens of workers affiliated with the party.
Eyewitnesses said a heavy contingent of rangers reached and cordoned off the office when a general workers’ meeting – in which more than 500 workers and local leaders were present – was underway.
Sources say Rangers were attempting to arrest Siddiqui during the arrest, but he managed to flee.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/853170/...ector-incharge-started-baldia-factory-ablaze/

 

[Eagle_Eye]

its becoming clear that rangers were acting on actionable intelligence.

Not only they kill opponents but their own too to keep order and fear instilled.

like waziristan in the north, if they have to level entire areas to root out this terror party in karachi then it just has to be done. End of.

 

[Nunna]

Dudoo should be brought back to pakistan and held accountble for this.
Imran khan was right from day one about him.

 

[Vulcan]

Altaf Hussain said he dont know who is Umair Siddiqui )

And this is on MQM Website http://www.mqm.org/videos/1622/mqm-...ion-cell-member-umair-hassan-siddiqui?Page=26

Jhoot bolnay ki bhi koi hadd hoti hai )


He was spitting venom against Arm forces today on Geo, Samaa and ARY

Here is clip of Geo News

 

[Vulcan]

Sorry this is GEO News Video where he is bashing Pakistan Army and Rangers

 

[Strike Rate]

Baldia factory fire caused by extortionists, JIT

Three years after the deadly fire claimed more than 250 lives, the investigators revealed that an extortionist group was behind the attack.

Exactly which group set the garment factory on fire to teach the owners a lesson for not paying extortion is a fact that continues to baffle the joint investigation team (JIT) formed to probe the city’s worst industrial disaster.

The four-member investigation team, headed by DIG Sultan Khawaja and DIG Munir Shaikh reached Dubai on Sunday. They recorded the statements of the Bhaila brothers — Arshad and Shahid, the owners of the ill-fated factory Ali Enterprises — who had refused to visit Pakistan for the investigations.

Their statements were recorded separately, both on paper and in front of a camera, at the Pakistan consulate. The team will now fly to London to record the statement of their father. “The statements of the Bhaila brothers have been completed but we cannot share the details as they have requested us to keep their statement confidential,” said Malik Abdul Wahid Khan, the press counsellor at the Pakistan consulate in Dubai.

Meanwhile, a senior police official, who is privy to the developments, told The Express Tribune that the Bhaila brothers claimed that the fire was not accidental. One extortionist group was behind the incident. “We had been providing them extortion money before the fire incident but the relations turned sour before the incident,” the officer quoted the owners as saying.

“They [extortionists] warned us that they will set our factory ablaze as their demands were not being fulfilled.”

The confessional statements do not, however, carry the name of a group or a political party that was making extortion demands.

On September 11, 2012, Ali Enterprises caught fire and took away the lives of 259 workers trapped inside. Even though it has been three years, the investigators have to rely on the owners’ claims to establish the cause of the fire. There is no scientific evidence.

In the immediate aftermath of the fire, an inquiry team led by DIG Sultan Khawaja, who is heading the current JIT, declared that the fire was accidental. The investigations were shelved after this inquiry report until the Rangers submitted another report in the Sindh High Court and accused the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) for the incident.

The Rangers quoted MQM worker Rizwan Qureshi, who was arrested in some other case, confessing that party activists set the factory ablaze after the owners refused to pay extortion. Qureshi was released on bail some time later and his whereabouts are unknown.

However, the MQM denied its involvement and termed the charges as ‘fictitious’ and ‘biased’. It had also demanded a reinvestigation into the inferno. The Sindh government formed another JIT after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered reinvestigation during an apex committee meeting at Governor House in February this year.

Initially, the then Crime Branch AIG Khadim Hussain Bhatti was appointed as the chief of the new JIT but, by mid-March, he was replaced by the then Rapid Response Force chief DIG Aftab Pathan. Finally, DIG Khawaja was given task to once again probe the fire despite his refusal to investigate.


http://tribune.com.pk/story/970329/...dia-factory-fire-caused-by-extortionists-jit/

 

[Strike Rate]

Well it's an open secret that some important leader from MQM are behind this incident but the question is are they going to be arrested and hanged this time or another nazrya-e-zarurat is going to happen.

 

[godzilla]

what kind of human beings behave like this and so callously destroy peoples lives like this?

 

[Thivagar]

Disgusting animals and it had to be the poor who had to fall for this. This is why I condone the poor of sub continent to do whatever they can in order to get out of poverty, legal or illegal.

 

[Abdullah719]

Baldia factory fire prime suspect Hammad Siddiqui 'arrested in Dubai'

Hammad Siddiqui, the prime suspect in the Baldia factory fire and former chief of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Karachi organising committee, has reportedly been arrested by Interpol in Dubai on Friday.

Sources said the Pakistani consulate in Dubai had been directed to make arrangements for bringing Siddiqui back to the country. He is likely to be brought to Karachi on Monday.

Siddiqui is the prime suspect in the 2012 Baldia factory fire in which 260 people, mostly factory workers, were killed and several others injured.

Siddiqui is currently being interrogated in Dubai about the factory fire and other incidents of violence in Karachi.

However, the arrest has not been officially confirmed yet.

Additional IG Karachi Mushtaq Mehar, when contacted, said, “I have no idea about his arrest. Nobody has informed me [about it] so far,” he maintained.

Siddiqui is also nominated in the Dr Imran Farooq murder case.

Police name Hammad Siddiqui as prime suspect in fourth charge sheet of Baldia fire

Another suspect, Abdul Rehman alias Bhola, a former sector in-charge of the MQM, was arrested in connection with the Baldia factory fire case in Bangkok by Interpol last year. While in custody he ‘confessed’ before a judicial magistrate, saying the fire was caused to ‘teach the factory owners a lesson and inflict loss on them’ over their refusal to pay extortion and give a share in profits to Siddiqui.

Rehman said that Hammad had demanded Rs250 million as protection money and a share in the profits from the factory owners, and when they refused, Rehman, being the adhoc in-charge of MQM’s Baldia Town Sector, was tasked with committing arson at the factory with the use of chemicals.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/154302...prime-suspect-hammad-siddiqui-arrested-dubai/

 

[WebGuru]

This arrest resulted in forced marriage of PSP and MQMP

 

[Abdullah719]

Baldia factory fire was an act of terrorism: JIT report

KARACHI (Dunya News) - Dunya News has obtained the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report of the Baldia factory tragedy while Sindh government will release a 27-page report tomorrow.

According to the JIT report, the factory fire was not an accident, it was an act of terrorism. The fire was started in the factory for non-payment of Rs. 200 million as extortion money.

According to report, MQM s Hamad Siddiqui and Rehman Bhola demanded extortion money from the factory owner but the initial investigation had not mentioned about the extortion money anywhere in the FIR or in the investigation.

JIT has recommended withdrawing the previous FIRs and filing of new FIRs under terrorism provisions in its report and also recommended including the names of Rehman Bhola, Hamad Siddiqui, Zubair Charia in the new FIR.

JIT has also recommended including the names of Umar Hassan Qadari, Dr. Abdul Sattar, Ali Hassan Qadri, Iqbal Adib Khanum and four unknown persons in the FIR.

It has also recommended to cancel the passports of the accused and put their names on the ECL.

Police role has also been criticized in the JIT report as police had failed to investigate the case in the right direction.

https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/552900-Baldia-factory-fire-was-an-act-of-terrorism:-JIT-report

 

[Pakpak]

KARACHI (Dunya News) - Dunya News has obtained the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report of the Baldia factory tragedy while Sindh government will release a 27-page report tomorrow.

According to the JIT report, the factory fire was not an accident, it was an act of terrorism. The fire was started in the factory for non-payment of Rs. 200 million as extortion money.

According to report, MQM s Hamad Siddiqui and Rehman Bhola demanded extortion money from the factory owner but the initial investigation had not mentioned about the extortion money anywhere in the FIR or in the investigation.

JIT has recommended withdrawing the previous FIRs and filing of new FIRs under terrorism provisions in its report and also recommended including the names of Rehman Bhola, Hamad Siddiqui, Zubair Charia in the new FIR.

JIT has also recommended including the names of Umar Hassan Qadari, Dr. Abdul Sattar, Ali Hassan Qadri, Iqbal Adib Khanum and four unknown persons in the FIR.

It has also recommended to cancel the passports of the accused and put their names on the ECL.

Police role has also been criticized in the JIT report as police had failed to investigate the case in the right direction.

https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/552900-Baldia-factory-fire-was-an-act-of-terrorism:-JIT-report

MQM terrorists involved as was suspected. What a surprise....not. I'm glad these killers are not holding the city to ransom like they used to.

 

[Bewal Express]

An evil act that needs to be punished.

 

[Syed1]

MQM was the biggest terrorist organization in the country. I hope to God each of the culprits meet the same fate as they inflicted on poor innocent people.

Just read this

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">289 people were killed by MQM in such cold blood, in such a procedural and bureaucratic way that its chilling. This is what is called the 'Banality of evil'. This, i repeat, is the biggest terror attack on Pakistani soil, ever.<br>Excerpt from JIT report: <a href="https://t.co/AwALdRwqwa">pic.twitter.com/AwALdRwqwa</a></p>— Waqas (@worqas) <a href="https://twitter.com/worqas/status/1279834800086552576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Syed1]

Exactly my sentiments. It's a shame that we have some MQM apologists on here.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thank God despite being an Urdu speaking Pakistani, my family or I never ever supported MQM. JIT report doesn't tell us something new. Every Karachiite knows this unless you are/were an MQM poodle. Neither is Uzair's JIT a surprise!</p>— Faisal Ahmad Jafri (@faisalahmadj) <a href="https://twitter.com/faisalahmadj/status/1279842903418900480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[pakistan cricket fan]

Everbody know about AH
I hope everyone who is involved in this get dead penalty.

 

[Knight_Rider]

Fair enough, everyone is entitled to ve their opinion. I am born and bred Karachiite and ve family and friends in the city. I think MQM is there to stay because despite its flaws, its the only representative party of Urdu speaking people.

PTI type barsati maindak will disappear in due course and PPP is only interested in its ethnicity based and dynastic politics.

 

[MenInG]

Deleted nonsense, any more of it and get ready to be banned.

 

[Abdullah719]

MQM’s Hammad Siddiqui masterminded Baldia factory fire that killed 289: JIT report

KARACHI - On 11th September 2012, a fire broke out in a garments factory in Baldia Town that killed 289 people and severely injured more than 600 people. The JIT report that has investigated this incident is finally being released by the Government of Sindh. The JIT, after holding six sessions in the factory, carefully examining the ruins, and collecting accounts of eyewitnesses including the employees of the factory, has nullified the previous investigations and concluded that fire wasn't an accident but a deliberate act of terrorism.

According to the report, the fire was unnatural and had multiple origins simultaneously as per forensic reports. The report also declared refusal to pay extortion money to MQM as a motive for this terror activity. The fire was started in the factory for non-payment of Rs. 200 million as extortion money.

According to the excerpts from the JIT, report by forensics team corroborated the eyewitness that it was indeed arson and there were multiple sources of fire.

According to report, MQM’s Hamad Siddiqui and Rehman Bhola demanded extortion money from the factory owner but the initial investigation had not mentioned about the extortion money anywhere in the FIR or in the investigation. The report also included the testimony of accused Rizwan Qureshi in which he revealed that Hammad Sidique, an MQM party high official and in charge of the Karachi Tanzeemi Committee (KTC), demanded an amount of Rs. 200 million from the owner of Ali Enterprise through his frontman Rehman Bhola in 2012. However, the factory owner went to Asghar Baig, MQM sector in-charge of Baldia town at that time, and made him aware of the demand. Asghar Baig along with his brother Majid Baid arranged a meeting between the factory owners and Hammad Sidique. The meeting was also attended by Farooq Saleem, joint in-charge of KTC. The factory owners refused to pay the extortion money and exchanged harsh words with MQM leaders.

The JIT report also talks about the constraints and challenges it faced while carrying out the investigation. It says that the JIT was constituted already very late , around two and a half years after the incident and this caused the criminal site to get compromised which made it hard for the team to collect evidences. The report also criticises the previous investigation conducted and it was done on flawed connotations and presumptions as per the report.

The report also includes an eyewitness account which tells that not only was the factory burnt down the factory with workers inside, they also made sure nobody could escape by locking the doors.

While concluding the report, the JIT has recommended withdrawing the previous FIRs and filing of new FIRs under terrorism provisions and include the names of Rehman Bhola, Hamad Siddiqui, Zubair Charia, Umar Hassan Qadari, Dr. Abdul Sattar, Ali Hassan Qadri, Iqbal Abid Khanum and four unknown persons in the new FIR.

The Baldia Town factory fire is probably the goriest incident in the violent history of Karachi. 259 innocent worker lost their lives in this fire while 50 were injured.

https://www.brecorder.com/news/4000...aldia-factory-fire-that-killed-289-jit-report

 

[Syed1]

Fair enough, everyone is entitled to ve their opinion. I am born and bred Karachiite and ve family and friends in the city. I think MQM is there to stay because despite its flaws, its the only representative party of Urdu speaking people.

PTI type barsati maindak will disappear in due course and PPP is only interested in its ethnicity based and dynastic politics.

Rather be a barsati maindak than drill people in the head or burn them alive. You do not know the ground reality. Don't cry dhandli dhandli after 2023 elections when PTI makes further inroads in MQM votebank.

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

Fair enough, everyone is entitled to ve their opinion. I am born and bred Karachiite and ve family and friends in the city. I think MQM is there to stay because despite its flaws, its the only representative party of Urdu speaking people.

PTI type barsati maindak will disappear in due course and PPP is only interested in its ethnicity based and dynastic politics.

A matter of opinion is when it's a question like "what do you want to have for dinner?", or "is there a need of alu in biryaani or not?". Killing people, utilizing racial hatred, and creating systematic corrupt systems for the benefit of a select few are outside the domain of "everyone is entitled to their opinions".

Almost 300 people lost their lives, and so many others lost access to their livelihood. Any other opinion except justice on this is irrelevant and points towards blatant blind bias.

 

[Knight_Rider]

Rather be a barsati maindak than drill people in the head or burn them alive. You do not know the ground reality. Don't cry dhandli dhandli after 2023 elections when PTI makes further inroads in MQM votebank.

Oh really? What makes you think that PTI is making further in roads in karachi?

 

[Knight_Rider]

A matter of opinion is when it's a question like "what do you want to have for dinner?", or "is there a need of alu in biryaani or not?". <b>Killing people, utilizing racial hatred, and creating systematic corrupt systems for the benefit of a select few </b>are outside the domain of "everyone is entitled to their opinions".

Almost 300 people lost their lives, and so many others lost access to their livelihood. Any other opinion except justice on this is irrelevant and points towards blatant blind bias.

All of that applies to all ethnic based parties of Pakistan (which includes almost every major party from PML to PPP and JUI), so why fixated on MQM? What has army establishment really done against any of these other parties?

 

[IMMY69]

All of that applies to all ethnic based parties of Pakistan (which includes almost every major party from PML to PPP and JUI), so why fixated on MQM? What has army establishment really done against any of these other parties?

MQM are on a different level.
As a Urdu speaking Pakistani born in Karachi and with many family members still living in Karachi, I can proudly say that most of them have now opened their eyes to the disgusting cretins that are the MQM

 

[Knight_Rider]

MQM are on a different level.
As a Urdu speaking Pakistani born in Karachi and with many family members still living in Karachi, I can proudly say that most of them have now opened their eyes to the disgusting cretins that are the MQM

Tiger Force meh ho?

In that case, What else to be expected. If you are really are from Khi, look around you to see why Karachi needs local representation. What have Vawda, Imran Ismail, Ali Zaidi and Arif Alvi have done for Karachi’s problems. Name me a ‘single’ thing.

Muhajirs are voiceless without MQM.

 

[Syed1]

Tiger Force meh ho?

In that case, What else to be expected. If you are really are from Khi, look around you to see why Karachi needs local representation. What have Vawda, Imran Ismail, Ali Zaidi and Arif Alvi have done for Karachi’s problems. Name me a ‘single’ thing.

Muhajirs are voiceless without MQM.

Don't speak as if you are a representative of the urdu speaking community.


Let me tag the Karachi boys and see if they agree with you that MQM is badly being missed


[MENTION=138463]Slog[/MENTION] [MENTION=133760]Abdullah719[/MENTION] [MENTION=140491]Greenstorm[/MENTION]

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

All of that applies to all ethnic based parties of Pakistan (which includes almost every major party from PML to PPP and JUI), so why fixated on MQM? What has army establishment really done against any of these other parties?

Where have I defended or taken a stance in favor of any of those parties?

 

[Slog]

Tiger Force meh ho?

In that case, What else to be expected. If you are really are from Khi, look around you to see why Karachi needs local representation. What have Vawda, Imran Ismail, Ali Zaidi and Arif Alvi have done for Karachi’s problems. Name me a ‘single’ thing.

Muhajirs are voiceless without MQM.

as if with MQM Muhajirs had so much voice and respect

mqm did more damage to mujairs post 1992 than any other entity

They sold the interests of their voters to enjoy fruits of government with sindhi vaderas who they would lambast for quotas and whatnot whenever it suited them.

 

[Greenstorm]

A truly horrible incident. Right up there with APS massacre. The doors were deliberately locked from the outside to stop the workers escaping fire. All for a few lakhs of bhatta.

MQM and the coward in London will pay for this either way.

 

[MenInG]

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi on Tuesday sentenced two MQM workers, Zubair aka Charya and Abdul Rehman aka Bhola, to death in the high-profile Baldia factory fire case — eight years after the blaze claimed hundreds of lives.

The court acquitted MQM leader Rauf Siddiqui, then-provincial minister for commerce and industries, according to his lawyer Abid Zaman. Three others, including Iqbal Adeel Khanum and Dr Abdul Sattar Khan, were also acquitted by the court.

The factory's four gatekeepers — Shahrukh, Fazal Ahmed, Arshad Mehmood and Ali Mohammad — were convicted for facilitation.

The court has yet to release its detailed verdict.

'MQM-P has nothing to do with case'

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.

Women walk along a road with the abandoned building of the Baldia garment factory where the deadly fire occurred in the background, in Karachi, Sept 17, 2020. — Reuters

Over 260 workers 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.

Analyse: 8 years on, have we learnt anything from the Baldia fire which claimed more than 260 lives?

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.

400 witnesses testify

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.

All the accused had denied the allegations levelled by the prosecution.

The special public prosecutor, representing the Sindh Rangers in the Baldia factory fire case, had told the court during a hearing in February that MQM leaders had pressured police to halt investigations into the incident a week after the deadly inferno.

It was unearthed within a week that the Baldia factory fire was a deliberate act of arson instead of an accident, but the police high-ups changed the first investigating officer allegedly under pressure from the MQM, special public prosecutor Sajid Mehboob Shaikh had informed the ATC.

Prosecutor Shaikh referred to the testimonies of around 370 prosecution witnesses, including the first investigation officer of the case, Inspector Zafar Iqbal, and said the police's initial stance that an electric short-circuit had caused the fire in the factory was wrong.

The IO had testified that the investigation was withdrawn from him by the police high-ups due to alleged pressure from the leadership of the MQM, the prosecutor added.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1581033/a...dia-factory-fire-case-rauf-siddiqui-acquitted

 

[MenInG]

A court in Karachi has sentenced two men to death for arson after finding them guilty of starting Pakistan's deadliest industrial fire, which killed some 260 people in 2012.

The men were found to have set a garment factory ablaze because its owners had not paid extortion money.

They were affiliated with the MQM party, which was in power in the city at the time, the court said.

Hundreds were trapped inside the building which had no fire exits.

No date has been set for the hanging of Abdul Rehman and Zubair Charya, the MQM workers who were convicted.

Some 40 firefighting vehicles tackled the blaze in the country's commercial capital in September 2012.

More than 24 hours after the inferno began rescuers were still battling to reach the dead and injured inside.

Many workers jumped from the upper floors. Others could not because of metal grilles on the windows.

People trapped inside the building frantically rang their friends and relatives as flames engulfed it.

The Ali Enterprises factory in the Baldia town area of Karachi was mobbed by shouting and sobbing relatives as rescuers pulled out body after body.

SOURCE BBC

 

[MenInG]

A court has ruled that Pakistan's deadliest industrial fire, which killed over 260 factory workers in 2012, was a case of arson and not an accident, as it sentenced two men to death.

The Anti-Terrorism Court found on Tuesday that the men, formerly members of the Muttahida Quami Movement party (MQM), set the building ablaze because of the garment factory owners had not paid them extortion money.

The blaze in Ali Enterprise, a multi-story unit for ready-made garments manufacturing in the southern city of Karachi, sent shockwaves through the country as survivors told stories of people trapped in the factory because the building's doors were locked.

In July, a joint investigative report said the fire was not an accident but a "planned sabotage" and a "terrorism act" carried out over non-payment of Rs 200 million ($1.2m) in extortion money and profits.

The incident is considered arguably the worst industrial tragedy in Pakistan's history.

The fire killed some 260 garment workers and seriously injured dozens more. In the years since the incident, the victims have faced delays in receiving compensation, and now there are reports that the factory owners have fled Pakistan.

Most of the deaths were caused by suffocation, as people caught in the basement were unable to escape when it filled with smoke.

The blaze broke out when people in the building were trying to start a generator after the electricity went out. Sparks from the generator made contact with chemicals used to make shoes, igniting the fire.

Source Al Jazeera

 

[msaaim89]

Glad they are getting a death sentence though given the crime, they deserve something really painful in return.

Such are horrible way for the victims to die, by burning.

As usual the criminal leaders get away with it.