Karachi factory fire: Court rejects bail plea of two factory owners

Arshad Bhaila and Shahid Bhaila arrested by police in Karachi.


Web Desk October 06, 2012

KARACHI: After a court in Karachi rejected bail pleas of Arshad Bhaila and Shahid Bhaila - owners of the factory which caught fire and took more than 250 lives – they were arrested by police on Saturday night, Express News reported.

However, the court approved the bail of their father, Abdul Aziz Bhaila.

SSP Investigation Saqib Sultan confirmed the court’s short order and said both brothers would be arrested as soon as they exited the courtroom.

The fire that broke out on September 11 claimed the lives of 258 workers in one of Pakistan’s worst industrial incidents.

Earlier, the interim challan submitted to the court about the fire at Ali Enterprises revealed that the factory gates were closed on orders of the owners and the general manager when the fire broke out.

The main suspect in the case who had the factory keys, Shah Rukh, is still a fugitive while the factory owners, Abdul Aziz Bhaila and his sons Arshad Bhaila and Shahid Bhaila, had been granted bail by the Rawalpindi High Court.

COMMENTS (10)

Ibrahim | 11 years ago | Reply

I think the event require reflection from all corners of our society. We live in a country where we all think that we can not get hurt no matter how irresponsibly we act. Factory owners are victims not the culprit in this case. We all assume that people who owns factories are the villans. They are the ones who despite all odds prefer the invest in a country where no one dare to invest. They are the one who provides employment to individuals whom no one want to give any thing including education. They bring revenue to the nation in terms of forex and taxes.It needs to be remembered that most of the taxes for Pakistan comes from Karachi. It is the responsibility of the people and the government to provide them with facilities to make the job easier. Individuals have to look at the state in which Karachi today is to refelect why this event happened. I am sure most of us who lived in Karachi knows how rempent it is to be robbed, killed and kidnapped today. I know most of the individuals are scared to even stand outside there own homes for more than few minutes in Karachi to avoid any of the above things. None of us would leave our doors and windows open in Karachi otherwise residents of Karachi know what will happen to there life, diginity and property. Why the owners are being booked under 302. Do they have any intention to murder any one? Why only owners and managers are in Jail? why not the chairperson of Labour, fire, civil defence department also in Jail? It seems like we can only punish those whom we think can not create much fuss. The way to learn from it as a society is to make sure that we make laws and implement these laws in spirit to prevent these things from happening and change our own attitude. I am not sure how many of our kids studying in Karachi schools and colleges undergoes regular fire drills. Do our schools, hospitals, resturants, cinemas have fire alarms or do we even care to see if they exist as we believe that we can never be the victum of fire.

S. M. Pardesi | 11 years ago | Reply

How ignorant can you guys be, yes innocent people have died but how can we throw the book at owners, who lost everything in the process too. How come authorities who were responsible to extinguish fire didn't show up for hours and then didn't have water or equipment... Let's tell every industrialist who is providing jobs in Pakistan to pack up and take their money and experise somewhere else as neither the authorities nor the unemployed public cares about anyone. The bigger question is who set the fire, who locked the doors and why? Lastly, which party is benefitting in election because of this case.... A quick question for all the bright commentrators; How many of your work places and homes will be safe if there is a fire and authorities decide not to show up... Going forward, Pakistani factory owners have to not just worry about Bhutta khory and water and electricity problems but they will go to jail, even if someone set fire to their factory... Sounds like a perfect Pakistani solution like everything else.

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