KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court hearing Baldia factory fire case on Tuesday granted the plea of the factory owners to testify before the court via video link from Dubai.
The court allowed factory owners to record their testimony via video link from Dubai Consulate of Pakistan and directed the prosecutor to made arrangements for the video link and the time of the statement.
The Rangers prosecutor in a previous hearing had informed the court about the factory owners plea to record their testimony via video link from Dubai while expressing fears about threat to their lives.
The case of September 11, 2012 incident took a new turn in February 2015 when Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, submitted a joint investigation team (JIT) report in the Sindh High Court (SHC), which revealed that the factory was set on fire after its owners failed to pay protection money.
Later, the police in its progress report informed the trial court in March 2016 that the factory fire was a planned terrorist act and the JIT had recommended that a new case be registered under the anti-terrorism law against the accused persons.
During the case a witness had testified before the anti terrorism court that the factory was set on fire after its owners refused to pay extortion amount to a political party.
The blaze at the Ali Enterprises factory in Baldia Town of Karachi, had killed 258 people in one of Pakistan’s worst industrial disasters.
