Court's five-day physical remand of accused in Baldia factory fire case

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Wednesday granted physical remand of Abdur Rehman alias Bhola, the main accused of Baldia Town factory fire. The court granted five days' physical remand of the accused to police, who was produced before the court under stringent security. The judge also ordered the police to produce accused Bhola before the court on December 19 court hearing.
The ATC also expressed resentment over non-appointment of Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) as the investigation officer. Bhola is a former Sector Incharge of Muttahida Qaumi Movement and an employee of Karachi Municipal Corporation's health department. During the interrogation, Bhola has claimed that garment factory in Baldia Town was set on fire by Asghar Baig on the orders of Karachi Tanzeemi Committee's Incharge Hammad Siddiqui.
He said several other MQM members were also involved in the heinous act. A two-member team of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) brought back Bhola, an MQM activist, to Karachi from Bangkok on Tuesday. Interpol officials had arrested Bhola on December 03, with the help of the commandos of Thai Police from a hotel of Bangkok, the capital of Thailand.
Bhola can reportedly reveal all the crucial information and expose actors behind the arson attack on the factory, Ali Enterprises, in Karachi's Baldia Town that claimed over 250 lives of the factory workers in September 2012. A major development took place in the case after three years in 2015 as the investigation report stated that the factory was set ablaze on the directives of a political party's leaders.
"The fire that engulfed had the factory was an outcome of a pre-planned scheme and that it was no accident," revealed the Joint Investigation Team report. "The factory was set ablaze over non-payment of bhatta - extortion money." Sources said the JIT report stated that MQM sector in-charge Rehman alias Bhola and Karachi Tanzeemi Committee (KTC) In-charge Hammad Siddiqui had demanded Rs 200 million as extortion money from owners of the factory.