Baldia factory fire case: Zubair, Rehman file appeal against their death sentences

KARACHI: Zubair aka Charya and Abdul Rehman aka Bhola, convicted by an Anti-Terrorism Court in the Baldia factory fire case, filed an appeal against their death sentences in the Sindh High Court on Wednesday.

In the appeal, Zubair and Abdul Rahman laid the blame for the fire on the factory owners. They alleged that the factory doors were closed when the fire broke out on the “orders of the owners”. “There was no emergency exit for the workers,” they said in the appeal.

They added that the people perished in the fire due to the “negligence of the factory owners and related departments”.

They said that in the initial report, the factory owners were held responsible for the fire, adding that the “real culprits” were acquitted in the joint investigation report.

“The court did not scrutinize the evidence,” claimed Rahman and Zubair. They also alleged that no CCTV footage was included as evidence in the trial court and appealed that the verdict by the ATC be declared illegal. Last month, an ATC handed death sentences to Rahman and Zubair, belonging to Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), for their involvement in the deaths of over 260 people in the 2012 Baldia factory arson incident.

An MQM leader, Rauf Siddiqui, who was accused of being involved in the incident, was acquitted by the court for want of evidence, along with Umar Hasan Qadri, Dr Abdul Sattar Khan and Iqbal Adeeb Khanum.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020