Baldia Factory Fire: Accused Sentenced to Death
After twelve long years of revisions and court hearings, the Baldia factory fire case has finally been closed; the accused sentenced to death.
During September 2012, a horrendous fire broke out in one of the factories in Baldia burning almost 269 workers alive. The factory was owned by Arshad Bhaila who had said that MQM workers had been demanding protection money; Rs. 250 million in exchange for the safety of the factory or a 50% share in profits. The Baldia factory fire is probably one of the most heart-wrenching events in the history of fires as it destroyed several families, killing innocent men.
Arshad Bhaila further told the police that he had been ready to give Rs. 10 million, however, that was not enough and since it was not the promised amount- a message had to be sent. Investigation authorities further discovered that the Baldia factory fire was a planned event and was done deliberately by members belonging to the political party MQM.
Many were arrested for the Baldia factory fire, two of which have been sentenced to death. Rehman also is known as ‘Bhola’ and Zubair is known as ‘Charya’ were given the death penalty for being the main participants in causing the fire. Others such as Shahrukh, Fazal Ahmed, Arshad Mehmood, and Ali Mohammad were sentenced to life imprisonment. While Abdul Sattar Rauf Siddiqui, former commerce and industry manager, Adeeb Khanum, and Ali Hasan Qadri were arrested but soon released due to the lack of evidence against them.
Rehman Bhola further confessed to the authorities that he was given an order by the party leaders to instigate the Baldia factory fire. The fire was not meant to hurt anyone or take as many lives as it did, it was simply supposed to intimidate the owners into paying protection money.
Moreover, upon further investigation authorities also presented that the Baldia factory fire was as bad as it got also because the factory itself had inadequate health and safety conditions, neither was the infrastructure as good which led to it causing the harm it did, which could have been possibly lesser if it were built fine and proper measures were being followed.
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