December 09, 2007	Sunday	Ziqa'ad 28, 1428

KARACHI, Dec 8: The additional district and sessions judge-II, Central, Nelofer Shahnawaz Azimi, recorded statements of three prosecution witnesses in a boiler explosion case on Saturday.

On Dec 7 when the defence counsel requested the court to record the complainants’ statements first, the judge directed the complainants to record their statements on Saturday. However, they failed to appear in the court.

The blast, which occurred at a towel-dyeing and bleaching factory in New Karachi on July 24, killed nine people and wounded 25 others.

Three prosecution witnesses — Riaz Ahmed, a machine master, Habib-ur-Rahman, a dyeing worker and Nazar Hussain — recorded their statements in the case.

They submitted that they were sleeping on the rooftop of the factory when the incident took place. They rushed to the spot and saw the factory walls had collapsed and employees were lying injured. The injured were rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. Later police arrived there and handed over the bodies to the victims’ relatives.

The court summoned the complainants and other prosecution witnesses to record their statements on the next date of hearing.

On Nov 30, the court indicted Akhtar Hussain Baloch, the factory owner, and Mohammad Ahsanullah, the boiler operator, on a manslaughter charge. They pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the case. A case (FIR 359/07) was registered against them at the Taimuria police station after the boiler had exploded.

The investigation officer attributed the long delay in the submission of the final charge-sheet to the non-availability of the inquiry report that was being prepared by the boiler inspection wing of the Sindh government’s directorate of industries.

Investigation Officer Mohammad Ilyas finally submitted the charge-sheet to the court of the judicial magistrate-12, Central, Abdul Zahoor Chandio, on Sept 24.

Referring to a parallel inquiry conducted by officials of the directorate of industries, the investigation officer stated that a boiler operator must hold a licence to handle the job and should be well-versed with the operation of the machinery.

“The boiler that exploded did not have safety devices in place and also lacked a heat-intensity gauge meter,” the investigation officer stated in his report, adding that the investigation had revealed that the factory owner was guilty of negligence as he was supposed to ensure the maintenance of safety standards at his factory.

However, the IO’s report did not address the issue of the expired boiler clearance certificate produced by the factory owner within a couple of days of the incident which could provide clues to the machine’s fitness level. It also omitted to mention whether mandatory inspections had been carried out by the authorities concerned.

The both accused were arrested soon after the incident and given in judicial custody. The court fixed Dec 12 as the next date of hearing.