Karachi: Convicts of Baldia factory fire case have moved Sindh High Court (SHC) to challenge the verdict of Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC).
According to details, Zubair and Abdul Rehman along with other convicts have approached the Sindh High Court (SHC) to challenge their conviction in the high-profile Baldia factory fire case.
In the appeal, they have stated that ATC ignored important evidence while pronouncing its verdict. They have further requested the court to overturn ATC’s verdict.
Earlier, on September 22, an anti-terrorism court sentenced two convicts to death in the verdict of the 2012 Baldia Town Factory tragedy.
The court awarded death sentence to Abdul Rahman, alias ‘Bhola’, and Zubair, alias ‘Charya’ in Baldia town factory tragedy; however, it acquitted MQM Pakistan leader Rauf Siddiqui due to lack of the evidences against him.
Moreover, four accused persons were pronounced life imprisonment by the court.
What was the incident?
On September 11, 2012, a fire ravaged through the Ali Enterprises garments factory, owned by Bhaila brothers in Baldia Town.
The incident is regarded as one the deadliest industrial disasters, an eye-opener on the dangerous working conditions in factories and a reminder of the lawlessness in the country.
Over 259 workers, including men, women and teenagers, were burnt alive while working in the factory.
Initially, owner of the factory Abdul Aziz Bhaila, and his two sons, Arshad Bhaila and Shahid Bhaila, a general manager and three gatekeepers were charge-sheeted for their alleged negligence.
However, the case took a turn in February 2015 when Rangers submitted a joint investigation team (JIT) report in the Sindh High Court.
According to the JIT report, the factory fire was a planned sabotage activity and not an accidental fire.
It added that the act was carried out over refusal to pay extortion of Rs200 million and partnership in the factory by factory owners to MQM office-bearers Rehman Bhola and Hammad Siddiqui.
In December 2019, Bhola was brought back after his arrest in Bangkok through Interpol, and he recorded his confessional statement before a judicial magistrate and stated that he, with Zubair alias Charya and others, set the factory ablaze deliberately on the instructions of Hammad Siddiqui.
He had revealed that the MQM leader had instructed him to set the factory on fire in the vicinity of Baldia Town Karachi because of non-payment of Rs250 million as extortion money.
He had claimed the intent behind the arson attack was only to intimidate owners of the factory, and he didn’t anticipate that his act would result in the loss of lives.
