A sessions court has directed the prosecution to argue on the bail applications of the owner, manager and watchman of the Mehran Town factory where a massive fire killed 16 workers on August 27.
According to the FIR, a fire broke out at the BM Luggage Industry in District Korangi’s Mehran Town due to a short circuit, and the workers were trapped inside because of locked gates and no emergency exit.
Six people, including building owner Faisal Tariq, his tenant and factory owner Hassan Meetha, manager Imran Zaidi, supervisors Rehan and Zafar, and watchman Syed Zarin were booked by the police in the FIR.
The district and sessions judge (District East), Khalid Hussain Shahani, directed the public prosecutor to appear in the court on September 19 and submit his comments on the bail after arrest applications moved by the suspects.
The judge had previously rejected the bail before arrest applications submitted by the suspects, ordering their arrest, after which they, except the supervisors who are absconding, were taken into custody from the court premises. The four suspects, however, moved in the court their applications seeking bail again.
At the outset of the hearing, the judge dismissed the bail plea filed by Tariq, directing him to engage a lawyer in his defence and move the application again in the court. Meanwhile, the judge heard arguments on the remaining applications.
Advocate Hasan Sabir, who represented the three suspects, argued that neither the investigating officer of the case had completed the probe in time nor had he recorded the statements of government officials who neglected their duties to ensure fire safety.
He said that his clients were suffering in jail because of the inefficiency of the investigation and requested the court to allow the release of them on bail as it was their basic rights. The judge, on the other hand, adjourned the matter seeking comments from the prosecutor on the next hearing.
The IO had recently submitted an interim charge sheet in the court of a judicial magistrate of District East, stating that the investigation could not be completed in time because of lack of cooperation from the authorities.
The FIR of the case was registered under sections 322 (manslaughter) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Korangi Industrial Area police station on behalf of the state.
Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani has asked the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) to show no...
Extraordinary strategies will be adopted to deal with robbers in the Katcha area of Sindh, said Sindh Inspector...
The Sindh government has declared a public holiday on April 4 to mark the death anniversary of former prime minister...
Two suspects, including the wife of a slain businessman, have reportedly taken into custody by police probing the...
The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday disposed of contempt of court applications filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf...
The District East police on Thursday night engaged in a shootout with robbers near the Aladdin Park, which resulted in...
The father of a six-year-old boy who fell to death into an open manhole has sued the Karachi Water and Sewerage...
A teenage girl injured in a firing incident in Orangi Town’s Frontier Colony registered a case against her father...