Karachi police on Wednesday detained five including the security in-charge of the Karachi shopping mall that caught fire, killing 11 people and critically injuring others.
The detained also included the owner of a software house, identified as Imran Abid while the security in-charge was identified as Abid Shah as the police said that all five would be officially arrested.
The RJ Mall shopping mall on Rashid Minhas Road caught flames on November 25 as volunteers from different rescue agencies started fighting over where to take them, putting injured people’s lives in danger.
According to the police, the fourth floor of the building housed software houses and call centres.
A day later, police registered a first information report (FIR) at Shahrah-e-Faisal police station nominating K-Electric, fire brigade, and departments that issued a no-objection certificate for the construction of the building.
The FIR included sections of culpable homicide, negligence, and damages for the lives lost in the incident. The report suspected that the fire in the building started due to a short circuit.
The FIR alleged that the multi-story building had no fire extinguishers and no emergency exits, while its map was also approved illegally.
The same day, Karachi East Deputy Inspector General of Police Azfar Mahesar announced the sealing of the mall during a visit.
An investigation committee comprising DIG, SSP, and SSP Investigation East was constituted which will submit a report to the chief of Karachi police in a week.
The nomination of the fire brigade department in the FIR did not set well with Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui who lambasted the police, saying the building premises came under the jurisdiction of the Cantonment Board Faisal and Karachi Municipal Corporation had no relevance to the area.
Mayor Siddiqui went on to add that the map of the mall was approved by the CBF and not KMC or Sindh Building Control Authority while the board collected taxes from the mall and was responsible for regularising the building.
