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India-Pakistan
Rehman Bhola warned of 'consequences' if Baldia factory didn't pay Rs250m extortion: witness tells ATC
2019-04-10
[DAWN] A former manager of the M/s Ali Enterprises on Tuesday told an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
that Abdul Rehman alias Bhola had warned him that there would be "consequences" if the garments factory failed to pay Rs250 million in extortion money.

The Rangers special public prosecutor, Sajid Mehbood Sheikh, had produced two witnesses for recording their statements before the ATC-VI judge in the 2012 Baldia factory fire case today: a former manager of M/s Ali Enterprises and a judicial magistrate.

The first witness testified that he used to work as a manager at the M/s Ali Enterprises in July 2012 when Rehman ‐ who was the then in-charge of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement
...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead...
's Baldia Town sector ‐ and Majid Baig visited the factory and also met with its owners.

He said the factory owners later told him that Rehman had demanded Rs250m extortion and a share in the business allegedly on behalf of the then head of MQM's Karachi Tanzeemi Committee, Hammad Siddiqui.

The witness said that since he used to handle the matters related to the MQM and because a majority of the factory workers were activists of the party, the owners asked him to settle the matter with Rehman and offered to pay Rs10m extortion.

The witness said that he met Rehman and made the factory owners' offer, but Rehman allegedly said that he would not accept an amount less than Rs250m or else the factory owners would face consequences.

Another witness, a judicial magistrate, also recorded his statement before the court.

The witness deposed that he was posted as a judicial magistrate and had recorded the statements of two prosecution witnesses in the present case ‐ including the above-mentioned factory manager and another witness, Majid Baig ‐ under Section 164 of the criminal procedure code on a request of the investigating officer of the case.

Later, the defence counsel for the accused Rehman, Zubair alias Chariya and others cross-examined both the witnesses.

They contended that there were glaring contradictions in the statements the factory manager had recorded before the police under Section 161 and then before the judicial magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC.

Posted by:Fred

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