KARACHl: Police on Friday filed an interim charge sheet in a case pertaining to the death of 11 persons in the RJ Shopping Mall fire and sought more time to submit the final investigation report.

The investigating officer (IO) of the case, Inspector Muhammad Shafee Meo, filed the interim report before a judicial magistrate (east) in which he charge-sheeted eight held suspects mall administrators Sultan and Faizan, security in-charge Abid Shah, owners of a software firm Imran and Adnan, Ehsan Dhoni, Hashir, Yawar and three absconders -Arif Dhoni, Tariq Mughal and Hanif Japanwala for the deaths, injuries, and financial losses.

He sought time for submission of the final charge sheet on the ground that reports of a forensic analysis were still awaited.

According to the charge sheet, a fire erupted on Nov 25 at Sam in the food court on the building`s second floor and ripped through the six-storey commercial building.

According to the report, the administration had shut down elevators as soon as the fire broke out. On the fourth floor, an escalator had been closed permanently in violation of the law. Suspects Imran and Adnan revealed that they had purchased the fourth floor in the RJ Mall and were paying the administration Rs1.4 million every month in terms of maintenance, it said.

While the IO mentioned the alleged negligence of the K-Electric and other departments, he chose not to named their representatives in the list of accused persons.

It stated that the Sindh Building Control Authority claimed that the completion plan for the building was not issued.

The report stated that the police had carried out a raid and apprehended three individuals `red-handed` and seized files, maps and two DVRs.