Five shop owners move court to include terrorism, murder charges in Gul Plaza fire case

KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Friday issued notices for Saturday (today) to members of Gul Plaza Management Committee and the investigating officer (IO) on a petition filed by five shop owners of the mall, seeking to record their statements before the court to include charges of murder and terrorism.

Speaking to Dawn, prosecutor Hassan Bhatti said that two applications had been moved by the shop owners before Judicial Magistrate (South) Aasim Aslam.

He said the shop owners had already recorded their statements before the IO under Section 161 (examination of witnesses by police) of the criminal procedure code and now they wanted to record their statement before the magistrate.

He further stated that the prosecution did not oppose the plea seeking to record their statements before the court.

However, he added that the prosecution opposed the plea seeking to include charges of murder and terrorism and treat the incident as the Baldia Factory fire incident.

Prosecutor Bhatti told Dawn that he argued before the court that the Gul Plaza fire was a separate incident. He added that in the Baldia Factory fire case, a chemical report had found phosphorus, and there was also an alleged intention behind the incident as the factory owners had not paid the ransom demanded by the accused persons.

He added that the Gul Plaza incident was separate and that the fire had broken out unintentionally, as per statements recorded by prosecution witnesses. According to witnesses, he added that a teenage boy was playing with matchsticks, which led to the fire in the mall.

Meanwhile, defence counsel Shaikh Jawaid Mir, representing members of the Gul Plaza Management Committee — Tanveer Pasta, Amar Ismail, Muhammad Ramazan and Muhammad Ameen — as well as the owner of an artificial flower shop, Naimatullah, and his over 11-year-old son, Huzaifa, had raised objections to the plea seeking to include murder and terrorism charges in the case.

After hearing arguments from all sides, the court issued notices to the suspects and the IO regarding recording of their statements and directed them to appear in person on Saturday (today) for hearing.

Regarding the plea seeking to include murder and terrorism charges in the case, the court adjourned the matter until Oct 7.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2026