KARACHI: After eight-long years of agony, the family members of the Baldia factory arson victims received the first phase of justice when an Anti-Terrorism Court in Karachi on Tuesday sentenced two men to death, after finding them guilty of igniting the massive blaze at the Ali Enterprises garments factory that killed 260 people and left 60 injured.
According to the prosecution, the gruesome incident was the outcome of the refusal by the factory owners to pay the “demanded amount of extortion and business partnership” in the factory sought by the MQM activists.
Abdul Rehman alias Bhola and Muhammad Zubair alias Chariya, both workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, were found guilty of the arson, which was the deadliest industrial disaster of the country. Besides execution, they were awarded life terms and fines for several other charges.
The ATC-VII also convicted four employees of the factory — gatekeepers Fazal Ahmed, Arshad Mehmood, Ali Muhammad and human resource officer Shahrukh Latif — for abetting the grisly crime and sentenced them to life imprisonment while imposing a liability to pay Diyat to the legal heirs of each victim. The court exonerated the former MQM minister for inustries at that time, Rauf Siddiqui, Dr Abdul Sattar Khan, Umar Hassan Siddique and Iqbal Adeeb Khanum, who were booked for misusing influence and facilitating the extortion for lack of evidence.
The ATC also issued perpetual warrants for the arrest of former MQM handler Hammad Siddiqui, who is allegedly the chief perpetrator of the arson, and Ali Hassan Qadri, extortion facilitator, while keeping the case against them dormant.
On September 11, 2012, the garments factory located in Baldia Town was reduced to cinders along with hundreds of labourers with all exits locked. The fire was so massive that it took 48 hours for the fire tenders to douse the flames, leaving most of the bodies charred beyond recognition. Dozens of the victims remain unidentified since 2012 lay buried in the Edhi graveyard in the outskirts of the city. Some fortunate ones who managed to jump out of the factory somehow have been paralysed, while others have developed serious health conditions because of the inhalation of toxic smoke.
Initially, the case was given the cover of a deadly accident due to lack of fire and occupational safety measures. In fact, the factory owners, employees and officers of the Department of Labour, building control, electrical, civil defence, environment, social security and other relevant departments were booked for criminal negligence.
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