Death of factory worker: case registered against admin

LAHORE: Following the orders of the chief minister, a labour officer on Monday got a case registered against the administration of a factory over its failure to ensure safety measures in the factory, which caused the death of a worker when he fell into a furnace.

Manawan police were accused of not registering the case and abetting the factory owner in hushing up the incident. The worker’s family alleged that they wanted to get the FIR registered, but the police were not willing to register the case. Later, the case was registered. However, no arrest was made till filing of the report. Worker Zaheer Abbas fell into the furnace while pushing an iron filled trolley as there was no safety limit ahead of the furnace. As he stepped ahead to unload the trolley, he fell into the furnace and was burnt alive. A CCTV video of the incident went viral. Sources said the incident was reported to Manawan SHO Saleem Shaukat, but he hushed up the incident declaring it an accident. The SHO briefed the SP that the family did not want to initiate legal action. Following the orders of SP Cantt, a police team visited the factory and took people into custody and later released them.