Three SBCA officials remanded in police custody in Golimar buildings’ collapse case

A judicial magistrate on Thursday remanded three officials of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) in the custody of police for two days over the allegations of abetting the illegal construction of a five-storey building in Golimar which collapsed recently, killing 27 people and wounding around two dozen others.

The Rizvia Society police presented Sarfaraz Jamali, Irfan Ali and Mansoor Qureshi before a magistrate of District Central and sought their custody for interrogation. The SBCA officials, who had been arrested a day ago, were accompanied by their defence counsels who opposed their implication in the case.

Advocate Raja Arshad, who appeared on behalf of Qureshi and Ali, contended that the building was given approval 25 years ago when his clients were children and hence, not civil servants. He pleaded that his clients be discharged from the case because the case did not hold any technical ground. The suspects also maintained innocence and said that the area where the building fell was not within the jurisdiction of the SBCA. The prosecution on the other hand maintained that the building was constructed illegally because the area was a residential one where constructing more than two floors was not allowed. It added that the SBCA officials illegally approved the construction of the building against kickbacks and deliberately ignored the flaws in its structure which later proved devastating. The police had registered an FIR on behalf of the state against the building owner, Muhammad Javed, and officials of the relevant institutions. Javed has also reportedly been arrested and will be presented before the court on Friday (today). Meanwhile, the investigation is underway as police are collecting evidence and statements of the eyewitnesses. The building had collapsed on March 5.