Baldia fire suspect Hammad Siddiqui handed over by UAE to Pakistan

By
Azaz Syed
|

DUBAI/ISLAMABAD: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has handed over Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) Hammad Siddiqui — the accused in the 2012 Baldia Town factory fire — to Pakistani authorities, Geo News reported.

Siddiqui was involved in a blaze that had erupted at Ali Enterprises in Karachi's Baldia Town on September 11, 2012, and had left more than 250 labourers dead.

Geo News learnt Friday that the suspect was in the custody of Pakistani agencies.

Siddiqui's deportation was not conducted through the standard operating procedures but by mutual intelligence coordination between Pakistan and the UAE, sources added.

Sources said the high-profile accused — who was handed over by the Interpol to a Pakistani intelligence agency last night — was taken to Islamabad.

However, Pakistani diplomatic officials in the UAE maintained their silence on the development.

Sources also said the decision to hand over Siddiqui to Pakistani intelligence personnel was taken after the UAE authorities did not get a satisfactory answer from Pakistani officials.

The Interpol had apprehended Siddiqui in October from a cafe, where he had gone to smoke sheesha along with friends. 

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Siddiqui was arrested in Dubai and local authorities had approached the Pakistani Consulate for his extradition.

According to an earlier report, at the time of Siddiqui's arrest in the UAE, two close associates and facilitators of Siddiqui were present but managed to escape law enforcers.

Siddiqui reportedly has made several revelations to police, and has named Naveed and Danish during the investigation as those who escaped. 

Emirati officials have said the police is looking for the escaped duo.

The sources further revealed that strict vigilance was ordered on all exit points in the Emirates and diplomatic officials added that the duo is involved in heinous crimes.

Local sources earlier revealed that Siddiqui was an employee of a general trading company in Dubai.

Wanted in a number of heinous crimes, Siddiqui holds marketing manager visa from Al Takatuf General Trading (LLC) since 2014.

He moved to Dubai at the end of 2013 after his membership was suspended for violating party discipline. Siddiqui was previously in-charge of the Karachi Tanzeemi Committee (KTC) of the MQM.

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) had last year ordered Pakistani authorities to have Siddiqui arrested through Interpol.

The Ministry of Interior, acting on the court orders, had also issued a red warrant for Siddiqui.

In Dec 2016, another key accused in the Baldia case, Abdul Rahman alias Bhola, was arrested from Bangkok, Thailand, by Interpol.

Bhola, the key suspect behind Pakistan's deadliest industrial fire had confessed that he deliberately set fire to Ali Enterprise on the instructions of Siddiqui.

Bhola had revealed that the MQM leader instructed him to set fire to the factory in the vicinity of Baldia Town Karachi because of non-payment of Rs250 million bhatta (protection money).

He had claimed the intent behind the arson attack was only to intimidate owners of the factory, and he didn’t anticipate that his act would result in the loss of lives.