The Sindh Rangers on Friday presented a report in the Sindh High Court which revealed that a faction of a political party was behind the deadly 2012 Baldia Town fire that consumed at least 258 factory workers.
According to the Rangers dossier, arson suspect Rizwan Qureshi set the factory on fire using a highly inflammable chemical after the owners refused to pay him Rs 200 million in extortion. The report stated that Qureshi had also claimed during investigation that a former minister had got cancelled the bail of the factory owners back in the day while a senior government official was paid Rs 150 million to close the case.
According to the Rangers report, Qureshi had also admitted to involvement in organised rigging in the May 11, 2013 general elections. The report says that he along with his accomplices cast around 30,000 bogus ballots in favour of a certain political party.
Ali Enterprises, which is located in Plot 67, Hub Road, Baldia Town, Karachi, used to export garments to Europe and the United States, and had employed between 1,200 and 1,500 workers.
The court again ordered the Sindh government to compensate 128 legal heirs of the deadly fire’s victims still awaiting relief, and present a report before the court in this regard within a week’s time.
The hearing of the case has been adjourned for a week.
