FIR of Sher Shah blast registered

SHO says building illegally constructed on nullah trapped sewer gas which caused explosion

KARACHI:

As the death toll increased to 17, a case of blast at a bank branch in Sher Shah was registered at SITE-B police station on the complaint of SHO Inspector Zawar Hussain. As per the sections of the FIR, the suspects face charges of doing an act with the knowledge that they were likely to hurt people by their actions.

If convicted, the accused can get sentenced to 10 to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment. Inspector Hussain in his statement for filing an FIR said that on December 18, 2021, he was on patrol in the area when at about 1345 hours Head Constable Iqbal, deputed on police mobile B-II, informed him about the blast.

Constable Iqbal reported that an explosion had taken place at Habib Bank Limited Sher Shah Branch adjacent to PSO filling station Sher Shah Chowk, State Avenue Road, SITE in which several people have been killed and injured.

"As soon as I got the information, I reached the aforementioned place at around 1350 hours where a lot of people had converged while the walls of the said bank had collapsed and the bank had turned into a pile of rubble. The ground floor was destroyed and the office at the back of the bank had collapsed and the bank and office debris had fallen into a sewer running under the building.

The bank staff and those in the back office were buried in the rubble and fell into a sewer," the statement read. The SHO said that in view of the incident, he immediately called rescue agencies, bomb disposal squad and crime scene unit. As many as 15 bodies and 11 injured were shifted to Dr. Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi. Two more bodies were later recovered. The death toll rose to 17. A team of bomb disposal unit under the supervision of in-charge Inspector Muhammad Amir reached the spot to find out the cause of the blast. It inspected the site and submitted its report to the SHO PS SITE-B.

The cause of the explosion was mentioned to be absence of a gas exit in a sewerage drain under the bank and office building. According to the report and the situation, the building of the bank and the office of the said site have been illegally constructed on the land of the sewerage drain and there was no outlet for discharge of gas from the drain.

The said building was constructed by encroaching upon the land of the sewerage drain. "The persons responsible for the construction and the aforesaid building owner have committed an offense under sections 322/337- H(I)/427/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code, therefore, a case was registered against the owner of the building and handed over to the investigating authorities," said the contents of the FIR.

The suspects face charges of doing an act with the intention of thereby causing hurt to any person, or with the knowledge that they were likely to hurt people by their actions. If convicted, the accused can get 10 to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment.