KARACHI, Dec 7: An additional district and sessions court adjourned the hearing of boiler explosion case without recording the statements of prosecution witnesses on a request of defence counsel till Dec 8.
Three witnesses, Habib-ur-Rahman, Riaz and Shah Hussain, appeared before Additional District and Sessions Judge-II, Central, Nelofer Shahnawaz Azimi, on Friday. But, their statements could not be recorded as the defence counsel requested the court to record the statements of complainants first. The judge summoned the complainants in the court to record their statements on Saturday.
Though the three witnesses had appeared in court on Thursday as well, their statements could not be recorded then as the lawyers stayed away from court proceedings due to a nationwide strike call.
Nine people had died and 25 others injured when a boiler exploded in a towel-dyeing and bleaching factory in New Karachi on July 24. Later, Taimuria police registered a case (FIR 359/2007) against the factory owner and boiler operator.
Attributing the long delay in submission of a final charge-sheet to non-availability of an inquiry report that was being prepared by the boiler inspection wing of the Sindh government’s directorate of industries, Investigation Officer Mohammad Ilyas submitted the charge-sheet to court of Judicial Magistrate-12, Central, Abdul Zahoor Chandio on Sept 24.
Referring to a parallel inquiry conducted by officials of the directorate of industries, the investigator stated that a boiler operator must hold a licence to handle the job and should be well-versed with the operation of the machinery. “The boiler that exploded did not have safety devices in place and also lacked a heat intensity gauge meter,” he stated in his report, adding that investigation had revealed that the factory owner was guilty of negligence as he was supposed to ensure the maintenance of safety standards at his factory.
On Nov 30, the court indicted Akhtar Hussain Baloch, owner of the factory, and Mohammad Ahsanullah, the boiler operator, on a manslaughter charge. They pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the case. The court also summoned 48 prosecution witnesses, including eight policemen, to record their statements.
An additional district and sessions court, east, put off the hearing of a murder case till Jan 4 for indictment of the accused.
Hafiz Manzoor Ahmed, who was arrested for murder of a 12-year-old boy, was provided a copy of the case as he appeared before Judge Rana Zaki Shamsi on Friday.
Mohammad Anas, hailing from Muzaffargarh in Punjab, had been staying with his maternal grandfather Qari Abdul Rahman, the teacher of a religious seminary, adjacent to Masjid-i-Aqsa in Shah Faisal Colony. On Oct 30, he was found hanging in the mosque. Police suspected that the boy was murdered and the body was hanged so that it appeared as a case of suicide. Subsequently, a case (FIR No 294/2007) was registered at Shah Faisal police station against Hafiz Manzoor Ahmed, moazzin of the mosque, under Section-302 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The suspect was arrested on Nov 1.
Judicial Magistrate, East, Maqbool Ahmed Memon, has already recorded the confessional statement of the accused. According to an interim charge-sheet, submitted by Investigation Officer Sub-inspector Ghulam Mustafa Shah in court on Nov 15, the accused had attempted a sexual assault but killed the boy as he resisted.
About 14 prosecution witnesses, including Mohammad Naveed Akthar, Qari Abdul Rahman, Noman, Raees Noori, Dr Abdul Jabbar, medico-legal officer, SI Yusuf Niazi and ASI Amin Memon, are to testify in the case.
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