KARACHI, Sept 24: The investigation officer (IO) of the Taimuria police station on Monday submitted to the court of judicial magistrate-12, Central, Abdul Zahoor Chandio, the charge-sheet against the accused factory owner Akhtar Hussain Baloch in the boiler explosion case.

On July 24 this year, a boiler exploded in the North Karachi towel-dyeing and bleaching factory, killing nine people and injuring 25. Investigators concluded that the incident was the result of sheer negligence on part of the factory’s owner and administrator.

The IO, Mohammed Ilyas, said that the boiler operator did not have the knowledge requisite for the job yet the factory owner had given him the responsibilities of a trained operator. Referring to an investigation conducted by officials of the Directorate of Industries, the IO said that a boiler operator must hold a licence and be well-versed in the machine’s operational sensitivity.

The IO informed the court that the boiler that exploded did not have safety devices in place and also lacked a heat intensity gauge meter. The investigation, he said, had proved that the accused was guilty of the crime since it had been his duty as the factory owner to ensure safety standards.

However, the IO’s statements did not address the issue of the expired boiler clearance certificate produced by the factory owner within a couple of days of the accident [as reported in this paper on July 26], which could provide clues about the machine’s level of fitness as well as lax inspection on part of the authorities.

The submission of the charge-sheet in the case was long overdue, which the IO attributed to delays in the submission of a report by the inspector of the Boiler Inspection Wing of the Directorate of Industries, Anwar Ali.

An interim charge-sheet was submitted to the court on Aug 9 but the judicial magistrate directed the IO to submit the final charge-sheet. The court fixed Aug 29 for the submission but the IO, Mohammed Ilyas, did not appear in court and submitted an application stating that his absence was due to preoccupation with the investigation of another criminal case.

On Aug 30, the judicial magistrate lodged a complaint with the senior superintendents of the police, Central and West, with reference to the IO’s failure to comply with the court’s orders. Instead of appearing in court, the IO had sent an application requesting extra time to complete the charge-sheet.

The judicial magistrate wrote again to police officials, including the CCPO, DIG and TPO of North Karachi, complaining against the IO for not complying with the court’s orders. As a result, the IO appeared in court on Sept 3 but failed to submit a complete charge-sheet. According to a court source, the IO submitted an application seeking an additional three days.

The court then fixed Sept 7 for the submission of the complete charge-sheet and directed the Boiler Inspection Wing inspector to submit his findings to the IO in advance of the next hearing.

In context of this case, FIR No. 359/07 was registered at the Taimuria police station under Sections 322/H-2, 427 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The factory owner was arrested the day the accident took place while the boiler operator, Mohammed Ahsanullah, escaped to his native area in the Punjab. He was subsequently arrested on July 31. The factory is situated in Malik Anwar Goth, Sector 15-B, North Karachi.