KARACHI, Aug 9: A judicial magistrate, Central, on Thursday directed the investigation officer (IO) of the Taimuria police station to produce a complete charge-sheet till Aug 13 in the boiler explosion case, in which nine persons were killed and 25 others injured on July 24.
JM Abdul Zahoor Chandio also directed the IO concerned, Ilyas, to appear in court on Saturday in connection with a bail application filed by Akhtar Hussain Baloch in the court of district and sessions judge, Nisar Ahmed Shaikh, on Aug 6.
Accused Akhtar Hussain Baloch, owner of the towel-dyeing and bleaching factory, and operator Mohammad Ahsan were produced in court and the JM extended their judicial remand till Monday.
The IO told Dawn that an interim charge-sheet was produced in court and a final one would be produced on Monday after obtaining medial reports from the Abbassi Shaheed and Civil hospitals.
He said the final report of the boiler inspection team of the industries department had also not yet been provided to police by the officials concerned. He said it was a proven case and, as he understood that the boiler exploded due to the negligence of the owner and the operator. He said a factory like this required an automatic boiler while the exploded one was being operated manually.
He said all the auto devices were out of order and the gas-tubes were not functioning. He said a boiler running round the clock required three operators in as many shifts, but in that factory only one operator had to perform the duty of three persons.
Referring to the legal requirements, the IO said such factories required all the safety kits and devices, but there had been no such things in the factory.
According to the FIR (359/07) registered at Taimuria police station under Sections 322/H-2 and 427 of the Pakistan Penal Code, a boiler exploded in the factory on July 24, resulting in the death of nine people and injuries to 25 others.
The factory owner was arrested on the day of the accident while the boiler operator, Mohammad Ahsanullah, escaped to his native area in Punjab.
The police arrested him on July 31.
The factory is located in a shanty town, Malik Anwar Goth, Sector 15-B, North Karachi.