Daily Times

KARACHI: Police have asked the Sindh government to put the names of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Rauf Siddiqui and Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) leader Anees Qaimkhani on the list of the people who are being investigated in connection with the Baldia factory fire case.

Siddiqui is a former provincial minister and Qaimkhani is leader of the PSP led by former Karachi mayor Mustafa Kamal. If Siddiqui and Qaimkhani’s names are put on the list, the factory fire case is likely to take a new turn. Siddiqui and Qaimkhani have already been arrested for allegedly helping injured militants get treatment at the Ziauddin Hospital in Karachi that is owned by Dr Asim Hussain, leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and former federal minister.

On September 11, 2012, a garment factory in Baldia Town caught fire, leaving 259 workers dead and more than 600 injured. The Sindh Rangers had linked the MQM to the incident.

Police sources said the factory fire had been declared an act of terrorism and eight people, including Hammad Siddiqui, had been linked to this case.

The court at the last hearing asked investigation officer Sajjad Saddozai to bring all nominees to the next hearing, which was likely to take place in August.

Investigators have already called for registration of a new case in the light of a report of a joint investigation team that contained the statement of the owner of the factory. The investigation officer informed the court at the last hearing that eight persons — Hammad Siddiqui, Rehman Bhola, Omar Hussain Qadri, Ali Hussain Qadri, Zubair Dahria, Dr Abdul Sattar, Zubair alias Chirya and Iqbal Adeeb Khanum — had been nominated in the factory fire case.

The report said the factory was set on fire after the owners refused to pay Rs 200 million to extortionists. Hammad Siddiqui had demanded this amount from the owners of the factory through Bhola. Factory owners met MQM leaders at Nine Zero, but they refused to accept anything less than Rs 200 million.

Arshad Bhaila, owner of the factory, said in his statement, which he recorded in Dubai last year, that Qaimkhani and Siddiqui were involved in the factory fire case.