KARACHI: Ten more relatives of the Baldia factory workers on Tuesday recorded their testimonies before an antiterrorism court in the Baldia factory fire case.

The ATC-VI judge, who is conducting the trial in the judicial complex inside the Karachi central prison, summoned remaining witnesses to record their statements and fixed the matter for Oct 20.

Nine accused — including Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmaker Rauf Siddiqui; Abdul Rehman, alias Bhola; and Zubair, alias Chariya — have been charged with setting ablaze a garments factory in Baldia Town with the help of its four gatekeepers — Shahrukh, Fazal Ahmed, Arshad Mehmood and Ali Mohammad.

The prosecution claimed that the suspects acted on the instruction of the then head of the MQM Karachi Tanzeemi Committee, Hammad Siddiqui, after the factory owners did not pay protection money.

The matter was fixed for recording statements of prosecution witnesses.

The detained suspect Abdul Rehman, alias Bhola and Zubair alias Chariya were produced from the prison. Rauf Siddiqui also appeared before the court.

The witnesses deposed that they were legal heirs of the deceased workers.

They deposed that their relatives worked at the Ali Enterprises, a readymade garments factory, and went to work at the factory as usual on Sept 11, 2012.

The relatives said they heard that their relatives had been caught in the deadly fire in the factory and were perished.

They further testified that the bodies of their relatives were not identifiable and through the DNA testing the victims were identified.

After recording their testimonies, the judge summoned other prosecution witnesses and adjourned the hearing till Oct 20. There are around 670 witnesses listed by the prosecution in the case.

An application moved by MQM leader Rauf Siddiqui seeking his acquittal in the case is pending before the court.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2018