Hammad Siddiqui, Rehman Bhola directly involved: Baldia Town factory torched over non-payment of money: JIT report

KARACHI: The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) in its conclusive report on the Baldia Town factory incident has revealed that the factory was torched by assailants over non-payment of Rs200 million as extortion money.

The JIT, in its report, stated that the fire incident was an act of terrorism, rejecting it as an accident, in which more than 250 people had been burnt alive on September 11, 2012 in Karachi. The report was signed by officers of law enforcement institutions who have contributed in the investigation of the factory fire case.

The investigators revealed in their 36-page report that the factory had been torched by assailants over non-payment of Rs200 million as extortion money. The findings showed the irresponsible role of the police, which seemed to be hiding the real characters involved in the mass killing of innocent people.

The JIT investigators further stated in the report that the prime characters in the terrorism incident of Baldia Town factory fire should be brought back from abroad, and their names should be included in the Exit Control List (ECL) and their passports seized.

They also sought protection for the witnesses to the incident. It emerged that Hammad Siddiqui and Rehman Bhola were directly involved in the terrorism incident which was previously dealt with in a non-professional manner.

The JIT members found that many elements attempted internally and externally to influence the investigation process in order to benefit the people behind the carnage. It was also exposed that a 1,000-yard bungalow had been purchased in Hyderabad city by using the extortion money by the assailants before the occurrence of the Baldia factory incident.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020