Javed Khanani dies after falling from building in Karachi

KARACHI: Businessman Javed Khanani, director of the Khanani and Kalia International currency dealers, died on Saturday after falling from an under-construction building, ARY News reported.

Khanani reportedly fell from the eighth storey of his under-construction building project “Saima Towers” located in Muhammad Ali Society within the remits of the Bahadurabad police station.

Police said that initial investigations suggest that Khanani committed suicide by jumping off the building. However, further investigations are underway to see the case from all angles.

Superintendent Police Gulshan-e-Iqbal Dr. Fahd said that several other people were also present near the site of the incident. He said that labourers heard a loud sound in the electric transformer and rushed to find out that Khanani had fell down from the building.

SSP East said that Khanani had come on a routine visit to inspect his building and probably entangled in an electric wire after falling and hit the ground. His business partners were at nearby office and identified him after the incident.

Khanani was taken to nearby Liaquat National Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. However, his family reached the hospital and took away his body without completing the medico-legal procedure.

Police has approached his family for legal action, but they refused saying that that incident was an accident. Eyewitnesses said that his spectacles, slippers and some money were also found on the eighth floor of the building.

Javed Khanani and Munaf Kalia were arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in November 2008. They were accused of money laundering, running a parallel money transfer system, and transfer of money through illegal channels.

There were multiple cases lodged against them in several cities of Pakistan.The State Bank of Pakistan suspended their licence indefinitely which barred the company from any business dealings.

Later, they were released on bail. Javed’s brother, Altaf Khanani, was arrested in the United States in September 2015. He pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering and faces a twenty year sentence.