Baldia factory fire case: Jail notified to carry out trial inside prison

‘Security concerns’ cited as reason

KARACHI: The home department has decided to carry out the proceedings of the Baldia factory fire case inside prison due to 'security concerns'.

The office of the Central Prison Superintendent wrote to the ATC-II, informing the court that the home department had notified for the trial inside prison on February 7.

The court, on a previous hearing, had directed the jail authorities to produce the interned suspects, Abdul Rehman alias Bhola and Zubair alias Charya, on Tuesday.

The jail authorities, instead, requested the court to fix the hearing inside prison, given the notification, and intimate them so that arrangements could be made.

More than 250 people were killed in the fire at Ali Enterprises garments factory in Baldia Town on September 11, 2012.

Meanwhile, the investigators maintained that the fire was caused by activists belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) after the factory owners refused to pay them extortion money.

A lawmaker of the MQM, Rauf Siddiqui, has been asked to join the investigation for his alleged role in the extortion saga.

Meanwhile, the court has asked police to seek Interpol's assistance in arresting absconding key suspect Hammad Siddiqui.

The court fixed February 25 for hearing the case inside the jail.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th, 2017.