Court extends remand of key Baldia fire suspect

Karachi 

A local court has extended the physical remand of a key accused of the Baldia Town factory carnage, Zubair alias Charya, till July 29.

Police officials on Thursday produced the suspect before the court and requested the Judicial Magistrate (West) to further extend his remand period.

While approving the request, the court allowed the police to keep the accused in custody till July 29.

According to the police, Zuabir alais Charya, who was in-charge of the garment factory’s furnishing department, had gone underground after the Baldia factory fire incident.

He was arrested in another case registered by a complainant, Yousuf, with the SITE police station in 2013.

According to the police, it was revealed during the interrogation that the suspect, who is also a political activist, was involved in the Baldia factory fire case. 

The investigation officer (IO) in the Baldia fire case submitted a fresh Joint Investigation Team (JIT in March that alleged that Rehman Bhola and Hammad Siddiqui had demanded Rs250 million as extortion money from the factory owners, however, they had agreed to give only Rs10 million.

The report further states that as the factory owners refused to pay the demanded money, Zubair alias Charya along with four of his unidentified accomplices set the factory on fire.