Two owners arrested over Maskan shop gas blast

Police on Tuesday registered a case against the owners and the manager of a pizza shop in connection with the Maskan Chowrangi explosion.

The FIR was registered under sections 285, 286, 427 and 337H(i) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Gulshan-e-Iqbal police station, based on a complaint of Javed Akhtar, a resident of an apartment building.

The complainant, who is also an estate agent and resides in the same residential apartment building where the explosion occurred, stated, "I was in my apartment when I heard a loud bang. After the explosion, my neighbours and I came out of our homes and witnessed the Street Pizza shop, located within our apartment complex, around 7:45am on Monday."

He said, "The pizza shop and two neighbouring stores, along with 11 cars and motorcycles, sustained significant damage due to the explosion." He said that upon inspection, they discovered gas cylinders inside the shop, which had caused the explosion due to a gas leakage. Akhtar held the shop owners, namely Ali and Shah Wazir, as well as their manager, Naeem Akhtar, responsible for the tragedy. He also reported damage to eight flats and the apartment's pillars due to the explosion and said four people were injured, one of whom was identified as Adnan Ahmed, aged 45.

Meanwhile, Gulshan-e-Iqbal SHO Shahoor Bangash confirmed the registration of the FIR, stating that the police had initiated legal proceedings against three individuals and had already apprehended two of them. The third person was expected to be arrested soon. He emphasised that the case was registered against them due to negligence.