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KARACHI, Dec 12: The additional district and sessions judge-II, Central, Nelofer Shahnawaz, on Wednesday recorded the statement of a prosecution witness in a boiler explosion case.
The blast, which occurred at a towel-dyeing and bleaching factory in New Karachi on July 24, killed nine people and wounded 25 others.
The prosecution witness, Mohammad Hanif, a gatekeeper in a nearby factory, was on duty when the incident took place and was injured when the wall of the factory collapsed due to the explosion. He submitted to the court that the accused, factory owner Akhtar Hussain Baloch, had provided him free medical treatment and he, therefore, pardoned the accused.
Three prosecution witnesses, Riaz Ahmed, a machine master, Habib-ur-Rahman, a dyeing worker and Nazar Hussain, had recorded their statements in the case on Dec 8.
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 at the spot and handed over the bodies to the victims’ relatives.
The court issued notices to the complainant and other prosecution witnesses to record their statements at the next hearing.
Both the accused are in judicial custody. The court fixed Dec 17 as the next date of hearing.
Notices to IO, witnesses
The same court on Wednesday issued notices to seven prosecution witnesses — investigation officer Bashir Khan, ASI Shahbaz Ahmed, MLO Dr Yasmeen, Hasina, Mohammad Noor Jamal, councillor Jahangir and Noor Amin — directing them to appear in court on Dec 28.
According to the prosecution, on Nov 2, 2002, Shamis-ul-Haq exchanged hot words with his wife, Hasina, over some domestic issues. Suddenly, he attacked his wife with a knife. His sister-in-law, Mahar-un-Nisa, wife of Mohammad Noor Jamal, was also present. She tried to stop him, but he stabbed both women. Mahar-un-Nisa later succumbed to her wounds.
