KARACHI: Two witnesses appeared before an antiterrorism court conducting trial in the Baldia factory fire case on Wednesday and deposed against one of the held accused, Zubair alias Chariya.

Nine accused, including Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmaker Rauf Siddiqui, Abdul Rehman alias Bhola and Zubair, have been charged with setting ablaze a garments factory in Baldia Town on Sept 11, 2012.

Take a look: Five Baldia factory fire victims still missing, relatives testify

On Wednesday, the two witnesses appeared before the ATC-VI judge for recording their statements.

Claim accused Zubair ‘Chariya’ smiled and smoked in the canteen as factory was burning

They deposed that they used to work in M/s Ali Enterprises under the supervision of accused Zubair, who was the in charge of the finishing department.

On the day of the incident, they deposed, they had gone out and when they returned to the factory it was in flames.

The witnesses testified that they rescued as many male and female workers as they could, but others perished in the huge fire.

The factory owners were also present at that time, they added.

They further said that they had seen Zubair smoking and smiling along with two or three other men in the canteen as other workers struggled to save themselves and their colleagues.

The witnesses also mentioned that later Zubair was also seen on the rooftop smoking and smiling.

“When some angry workers tried to catch Zubair, he went inside the canteen and locked its door from inside and then escaped from the factory,” said the two witnesses.

They added that a wall in the upper portion of the ground-plus-two-storey industrial unit was demolished and several workers escaped from this space.

The lawyer for accused Zubair cross-examined the two witnesses.

The judge, who is conducting the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, after recording their testimonies, summoned other witnesses, including a judicial magistrate, on Feb 16.

According to the prosecution, the suspects allegedly acted on the instruction of the then head of the MQM’s Karachi Tanzeemi Committee, Hammad Siddi­qui, as the factory owners did not pay protection money.

A red warrant has already been issued for the arrest of Mr Siddiqui.

Initially, the police had released accused Zubair citing lack of evidence against him. However, he was once again arrested after accused Rehman alias Bhola in his statement recorded before a joint investigation team implicated him, disclosing that he carried out the task of setting ablaze the factory through Zubair and some others.

The prosecution had listed around 670 witnesses in the case, but later gave up around 300 of them.

According to the special public prosecutor, over 330 witnesses have been examined by the court so far.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2019