Baldia factory fire accused Hammad Siddiqui arrested in Dubai

Published October 28, 2017
Hammad Siddiqui, former chief of the MQM Karachi Tanzeemi Committee.— File
Hammad Siddiqui, former chief of the MQM Karachi Tanzeemi Committee.— File

KARACHI: A former Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader was taken into custody in the UAE for his alleged involvement in the 2012 Baldia factory fire incident in which more than 250 labourers were killed.

Hammad Siddiqui, the former head of the MQM’s Karachi Tanzeemi Committee who left the country in May 2013, was arrested in Dubai after Interpol reportedly issued a red notice for his arrest earlier this year.

According to media reports, the Pakistan government was in touch with the UAE authorities for bringing Siddiqui back to the country. The MQM had expelled him from the party in May 2013. He was said to be instrumental behind the formation of the Mustafa Kamal-led Pak Sarzameen Party. His name first had surfaced in the Baldia factory fire case in February 2015 when a joint investigation team’s report submitted to the Sindh High Court stated that a suspect heard that the ill-fated industrial unit had been set to fire because the owners had refused to pay extortion.

Later, a new JIT was formed that interviewed the factory owners in the UAE. A fresh charge sheet was submitted to an antiterrorism court in the light of the findings of the JIT, which said that Abdul Rehman alias Bhola, an MQM man who was brought back after his arrest in Bangkok through Interpol in December 2016, disclosed during interrogation as well as before a magistrate that he along with Zubair alias Charya and others set the factory ablaze on the instructions of Siddiqui because the factory owners had refused to pay the demanded protection money.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2017

Opinion

Editorial

Environment Day
05 Jun, 2023

Environment Day

OUR world is not reusable nor can it be made perishable. As the plastic tide spins out of control, World Environment...
Spending for votes
05 Jun, 2023

Spending for votes

THE cash-strapped government’s plans to boost its annual development spending by as much as 31pc in the next...
On schadenfreude
Updated 05 Jun, 2023

On schadenfreude

Was it a ‘crime’ that he spoke out against the abuses being suffered by PTI workers at the hands of the state?
Surveillance state
Updated 04 Jun, 2023

Surveillance state

IN the midst of the madness, finally some sanity. Questions critical to the right to privacy of citizens bombarded ...
Transport crisis
04 Jun, 2023

Transport crisis

LIKE many other public-sector projects, governments past and present have promised numerous times to ‘revive’ ...
The Buzdar mystery
04 Jun, 2023

The Buzdar mystery

THE departure of former Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar from politics is not really surprising as the PTI is...