An anti-terrorism court in Karachi has sentenced two MQM workers, Rehman Bhola and Zubair alias Charya, to death for setting fire to a garments factory in Baldia Town in 2012 which claimed the lives of 259 people.
The court acquitted MQM leader Rauf Siddiqui, then-provincial minister for commerce and industries, according to his lawyer Abid Zaman.
Two-hundred-and-fifty-nine workers were burnt alive in a factory in Karachi’s Baldia Town on September 11, 2012. The factory, Ali Enterprises, is located on Hub River Road and belongs to Abdul Aziz Bhaila and his two sons, Rashid Aziz and Shahid Aziz. German discount clothing retailer KiK (Kunde ist König, which in English translates into ‘Customer is King’) was the factory’s main customer.
The then MQM Baldia Town sector in-charge Abdul Rehman alias Bhola and Zubair alias Charya were the main accused in the case as the prosecution said they ignited the fire to execute the plan.
