January 26, 2008	Saturday	Muharram 16, 1429

KARACHI, Jan 25: The administrative judge of the accountability courts, Karachi, Syed Aley Maqbool Rizvi, on Friday remanded a principal appraiser customs to the custody of the National Accountability Bureau till Jan 31 on charges of corruption.

The accused, Syed Hamid Umer, a principal appraiser of Customs, was apprehended by the NAB, Sindh in Karachi.

According to NAB, the accused was involved in accumulation of assets during the period of his service and living beyond means disproportionate to his known sources of income. He had joined the services in 1984 and was posted in Customs House Karachi.

Land scam against DIG

The same court adjourned till Feb 6 the hearing of a reference pertaining to a land scam against the deputy inspector-general (DIG) of the Sindh police, Altaf Hussain Bhatti, and others and transferred the reference to the accountability court-IV.

Four of the co-accused appeared before the judge while court issued non-bailable warrants for the arrest of the remaining six accused in the case and directed the NAB to arrest the accused and produce them in court on the next date of hearing.

Earlier, on Dec 4, the NAB, Sindh, had arrested the DIG for misusing his authority to acquire more than 500 acres of government land in Thatta district. Later, the DIG was sent to jail.

A reference (No 59/2007) was filed against him by the NAB accusing the DIG of illegally transferring pieces of land in fake names and later on getting them allotted to himself, his family members and other relatives.

Boiler blast case hearing adjourned

The additional district and sessions judge-II, Central, Nelofer Shahnawaz, on Friday adjourned the hearing of a case pertaining to a boiler explosion till Feb 7. The blast occurred at a towel dyeing and bleaching factory in New Karachi on July 24, 2007, and left nine people dead and 25 injured.

The complainant, ASI Naeem-ud-Din, appeared before the court and recorded his statement. He submitted that the boiler exploded because the operator was not present at the time. He was also cross-examined by the defence counsel. A prosecution witness, ASI Mohammad Ismail, also appeared before the court. However, his statement could not be recorded since the court timing was over. The judge directed him to appear before the court at the next hearing.

The court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for ASI Yaqoob Kario for not complying with court orders and directed the SSP Central to block his salary. Notices were also issued to ASI Mohammad Fayyaz, investigation officer Mohammad Ilyas, constable Shahid Majeed, inspector Anwar and inspector Ishaq for not appearing before the judge despite repeated remainders. The court also summoned the other prosecution witnesses directing them to record their statements at the next hearing.

Akhtar Hussain Baloch, the factory owner, and Mohammad Ahsanullah, the boiler operator, were indicted on manslaughter charges. They pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the case.

Akhtar Baloch, through his counsel, had submitted a bail application to the court. However, the defence counsel could not record his arguments on the application due to the shortage of time. He fixed Jan 28 as the next date of hearing on the bail application.

A case (FIR 359/07) was registered against the accused under Section 322 of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Taimuria police station after the boiler had exploded.

Earlier, the public prosecutor, while rising objections upon the application, submitted to the court that the boiler operator was working without a licence, safety devices were not in place and some tubes of the boiler were also out of order.

He further submitted that the boiler that exploded did not have a heat intensity gauge meter; therefore, the factory owner was guilty of negligence as he was supposed to ensure the maintenance of safety standards at his factory.

Around 10 prosecution witnesses have already testified in the case.

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.

IO Mohammad Ilyas submitted the final 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 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 lacked any mention of whether the essential inspection had been done by the authorities concerned.

Both the accused were arrested after the boiler blast and sent to jail custody.