ATC orders appearance of all suspects at September 16 hearing
Karachi
Anti-Terrorism Court-II issued non-bailable warrants on Friday for the arrest of Hammad Siddiqui, the suspended chief of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Karachi Tanzeemi Committee, and several other men accused of burning to death 259 people in a garments factory in Baldia Town four years ago, and fixed September 16 for a hearing.
The trial court that had received a supplementary charge sheet from the administrative judge of anti-terrorism courts a day earlier ordered the police to ensure the arrest of Siddiqui, Abdul Rehman alias Rehman Bhola and other absconding accused as well as their appearance on September 16.
According to the supplementary charge sheet, the ill-fated Ali Enterprises garments factory was set on fire by miscreants who were refused payment of extortion money on September 11, 2012.
Superintendent of Police Sajid Sadozai is the investigation officer (IO) in the high-profile case, and advocate Sajid Mehboob is assisting the trial court as special public prosecutor (SPP).
A fresh Joint Investigation Team report has said the factory was burnt to the ground on Siddiqui’s orders. Siddiqui had allegedly told the factory owners to hand over Rs250 million as protection money, but they had agreed to pay Rs10 million. On their refusal to pay the full amount, their factory was set on fire, which killed 259 workers.
It was further alleged that the extortionists had also demanded a permanent share in the income of the factory.
The charge sheet was prepared in light of the fresh JIT report that suggested a trial of the accused under the provisions dealing with the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, and other relevant laws.
On August 27, the additional district and sessions judge (West) had transferred the case to the administrative judge of the ATCs, observing that it was a case fit to be tried by an ATC and not by a regular court as the charge sheet was read with the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.
Earlier nominated in the case as co-accused, the owners and a few employees of the factory were instead included in the trial as witnesses after a thorough investigation declared them innocent.
The court was also informed and it endorsed the plea to consider the owners as witnesses and not as co-accused after they were found innocent.
According to the special public prosecutor, the name of another MQM activist, Zubair alias Zubair Charia, was also deleted as the investigators could not find any proof of his involvement. Siddiqui and Rahman alias Bhola were declared absconders. The charge sheet has mentioned 58 people as prosecution witnesses.
The prosecution alleged that some senior leaders of the MQM had tried to divert the direction of the incident and created confusion to save the real culprits.
Later, Ali Hassan Qadri, a close aide to Anis Qaimkhani, was alleged to have received over Rs50 million from the owners to settle the dispute and to compensate the victims. The victims, however, were never compensated.
