Baldia factory fire: Special prosecutor resigns

Shazia Hanjrah cites lack of cooperation from police officers investigating case as reason for resignation

KARACHI: Special public prosecutor f0r the Baldia factory fire case, Shazia Hanjrah, resigned on Monday.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Hanjrah confirmed that she had resigned citing the lack of cooperation from police officers who are investigating the factory fire case.

“On occasions, investigation officers did not take me into confidence,” she said.

Hanraj added that the investigating officers did not provide her with copies of witnesses' statements in the case. During the last hearing of the case, the investigating officers filed a list of witnesses in which the number of witnesses suddenly jumped from 870 to 940, according to the special prosecutor.

“Owing to these reasons, it is not possible for me to ensure free and just assistance to the court in this case,” she asserted.

Earlier today, during his trip to Karachi, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif urged that action should be taken against culprits behind Baldia factory fire.

Addressing the participants of provincial apex committee meeting held at Governor House, the premier criticised police officials for being slow to file charge sheets in the Baldia town tragedy.



RELATED: Action should be taken against culprits behind Baldia factory fire: PM



“Justice should be served to the victims of Baldia town incident,” he said while asking the Sindh chief secretary to give him a briefing on the incident.

On February 10 the Sindh High Court clarified that determining the accuracy and relevance of the joint investigation team’s report shall be determined by a competent forum.



RELATED: Baldia factory fire: JIT report not entirely based on the case, says lawyer



This was observed by the division bench, headed by Chief Justice Maqbool Baqar, after the lawyer presenting the Pakistan institute of Labour Education and Research and Fisherfolk Forum Pakistan, Faisal Siddiqui sought a clarification regarding the relevance of the JIT report to the Baldia factory fire trial.

The JIT report presented on February 6, was not entirely based on the fire incident specifically – the suspect quoted in the report was arrested for possessing illegal arms. During interrogation, he disclosed that he had information about who had started the fire at Ali Enterprises and why.