Rangers move ATC to treat Rauf Siddiqui as accused

The Sindh Rangers’ prosecutor has requested the anti-terrorism court (ATC) hearing the Baldia factory arson case to treat Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Rauf Siddiqui as an accused.

The 2012 hit on Ali Enterprises is considered one of Pakistan’s worst industrial disasters in which 259 workers were burnt alive. Investigations led to the revelation that the garment factory was deliberately set ablaze over refusing to pay extortion.

The application moved on Monday by Sajid Mehboob stated that Rauf Siddiqui’s name was mentioned in the interim charge sheet in column No 2 and was a part of the record, adding that the names of the other accused were also mentioned in the same column.

Moreover, read the petition, a joint investigation team that recorded the statement of accused Rizwan Qureshi had also underlined Rauf Siddiqui’s role as an accused in the Baldia arson. Mehboob asked the court to treat Rauf Siddiqui as an accused and summon him for trial.

The ATC fixed October 14 as the date to hear arguments on the petition before making a decision in the matter. The court will also hear the arguments of the relevant attorneys on the bail plea of main accused Abdul Rahman, alias Bhola.

The ATC also disposed of two applications moved by factory employees Ali Ahmed and Shah Rukh. The petitions seeking their acquittal were later withdrawn.

Bhola and Zubair, alias Charya, were produced in the trial court housed at the Central Jail Karachi. Bhola, Charya and others are believed to have doused the factory with a chemical that caught fire and spread throughout the unit.

In an earlier hearing, the court had summoned the SSP Investigation (West), the investigating officer of the case, to explain if Rauf Siddiqui was an accused in the matter.

The court has also been issuing non-bailable warrants for arresting absconding MQM leader Hammad Siddiqui. The IO had sought time from the court to submit a report in this regard, but it could not be presented.

In the light of Bhola’s and Charya’s statements, Hammad Siddiqui had directed them to set the factory on fire because the unit’s owners had failed to provide “protection money”.

Charya claimed that Rauf Siddiqui and other senior party leaders were involved in the matter because they had asked the factory owners for a hefty amount of money. The IO had informed the court that the relevant authorities had been contacted to get a Red Notice for Hammad Siddiqui.