KARACHI-
Six names, including five those of the suspects of Baldia Town factory fire who belong to Muttahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM), have been put on the Exit Control List (ECL).
The ECL is a system of border control maintained by the Government of Pakistan under the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Ordinance. Those persons on the list are prohibited from leaving Pakistan.
Mohammad Rizwan Qureshi, Hammad Siddiqui, Abdul Rahman alias Bhola, Asghar Baig and Majid Baig were named in a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report as the prime suspects in 2012’s Baldia Town factory fire that killed over 250 people.
The name Syed Javed Shakil is also included in the ECL but he is not among the suspects named in the JIT report.
According to Sindh home department sources, the six names have been placed on ECL on recommendation of the investigators to the federal authorities and all concerned departments have been informed of the development.
Rizwan Qureshi, named as a MQM activist, had revealed during interrogation that a ‘well-known party high official’ had demanded Rs200 million as Bhatta (extortion money) through his front-man from the owners of Ali Enterprises, a garments factory in Baldia Town Karachi in Aug 2012 and their denial to pay the extortion money led to to the organized arson.
Qureshi’s confession made headlines when the JIT report, quoting his confession, was presented in the court earlier this month.
Soon after, MQM denied association with Qureshi who had named the four men as his accomplices in the attack.
Siddqui had served as MQM Karachi Tanzeemi Committee’s in-charge while Abdul Rahman alias Bhola was the party’s in-charge in Baldia Town at the time of the incident. The Baig brothers had also remained party in-charge of the area.
An additional attorney general had submitted the JIT report to the Sindh High Court along with statements of deputy assistant judge advocate general of the Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, Major Ashfaque Ahmed.
The court ruled that the relevance and accuracy of the report would be determined by a forum and directed a trial court to decide the case within one year.
Recently, it was reported that the Sindh home department has constituted a new investigation team to probe the incident from ‘all angles’.
The team has been set up on recommendation of Inspector General (IG) Ghulam Hyder Jamali. It would be headed by Additional Inspector General (AIG) Khadim Hussain Bhatti and would included Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Mushtaq Mahar and an officer each from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Pakistan Rangers,Sindh.
