Hammad Siddiqui, the prime suspect in the Baldia Town factory blaze and former chief of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Karachi organising committee, was an employee of a general trading company in Dubai, a private news channel reported on Monday.
Siddiqui who is wanted in a number of heinous crimes holds marketing manager visa from Al Takatuf General Trading (LLC) since 2014. He had moved to Dubai in late 2013 after his membership had been suspended for violating party discipline.
As per reports, Siddiqui has been residing on a permanent visa in Dubai. The visa bears his name Hammad Siddiqui Masih ul Haq Siddiqui.
The accused was arrested by Interpol in late October by Dubai police.
Reports also suggest that a woman named M Khan was also arrested alongside Siddiqui in Dubai. The relation between M Khan and Siddiqui is being investigated, reports further suggested.
In addition, the legal process to obtain the custody of Siddiqui is picking up pace in Dubai.
As per reports, officials in Pakistan Consulate in Dubai are hopeful that Siddiqui will soon be transferred to Pakistan. However, the authorities have failed to provide a definite date for the transfer of the accused.
At least 260 workers were killed and dozens injured when a fire swept through the garment factory in Karachi’s Baldia Town in September 2012.
The main accused of the Baldia factory tragedy, Abdul Rehman alias Bhola, had admitted before the investigation team that he had deliberately set ablaze the Ali Enterprises on the instructions of MQM leader Hammad Siddiqui.
Rehman said that Hammad had demanded Rs250 million as protection money and a share in the profits from the factory owners, and when they refused, Rehman, being the adhoc in-charge of MQM’s Baldia Town Sector, was tasked with committing arson at the factory with the use of chemicals.
