close
Friday April 19, 2024

Influential person demanded accountant of his choice in factory

Baldia factory fire

By our correspondents
March 21, 2015
LAHORE: Target killers - Umair Siddiqui, Zubair and Faisal Mota, murderer of Geo News Reporter Wali Khan Babar - arrested by Rangers during a recent raid in Karachi, have disclosed that an influential personality had demanded extortion money of Rs20 crores (Rs200 million) from the Baldia Town factory and appointment of accountant of his choice.
Sources said during investigations the accused disclosed that the factory management had approached a cleric, who is a close aide of the influential personality, to settle the matter. The cleric after consultation with the influential personality told the factory management that the influential personality had agreed to take Rs10 crores besides appointment of an accountant of his choice at the factory. However, the factory management had rejected the condition of appointment of accountant. Upon this, the influential personality had threatened the factory owners to give them a massive financial loss. The very next day, accused Rizwan Qureshi went to the factory to collect extortion money and on refusal he opened fire and also set on fire a car parked there. The accused further disclosed that later one of the aides of Rizwan Qureshi sprinkled chemical on the fire which engulfed the other parts of the factory, killing more than 250 workers.