City Courts malkhana fire termed criminal act

Investigations hold three officials guilty of neglect

KARACHI: The fire at the City Courts malkhana on April 11 this year, which destroyed properties of cases of South and East districts, was an act of sabotage, the investigation revealed on Saturday.

Three in-charges of the malkhana were also found guilty of negligence in the investigations and have been named as accused in the case. To avoid arrest, they managed to get pre-arrest bail.

It was being suspected that the blaze could be an act of arson as it destroyed case properties. The fire was massive and it reportedly took 12 fire tenders, two water bowsers and a snorkel to douse it.

A South district and sessions judge had ordered a South judicial magistrate to conduct an inquiry into the incident. The magistrate recorded statements of all the security officials and guards concerned.



A joint investigation team was also formed by the provincial home department to investigate the fire, while then Sindh inspector-general of police also constituted two investigation teams headed by SSPs.

It took around four months to complete the investigations, which have concluded that the fire had been intentionally caused. According to the investigations, the blaze benefitted many suspects due to the elimination of case properties.

Unidentified suspects have been nominated as key accused in the case, while three in-charges, Muhammad Shakeel, Abdul Sattar Gopand and Ali Marri, were found guilty of negligence.

The in-charges were granted interim bail against a surety amount of Rs50,000 each. They were directed by the court concerned to cooperate in the investigations.