Key Takeaways
- Cases registered against KMC and Railways Police officials following a scuffle over a road project in Karachi.
- The project, valued at Rs780 million, is expected to ease traffic pressure in the city.
- The dispute centers on a dual carriageway linking Natha Khan Bridge with Pehlwan Goth and Habib University.
Cases have been registered against Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and Pakistan Railways Police officials in Karachi following a scuffle between the two sides over a dispute concerning the construction of a road.
The project, valued at around Rs780 million, aims to ease traffic pressure on major roads such as Sharea Faisal, Rashid Minhas Road, Dalmia Road, and Gulistan-i-Jauhar.
The controversy centers on a dual carriageway linking Natha Khan Bridge with Pehlwan Goth and Habib University, running parallel to Chakor Nullah.
KMC City Wardens Director Saim Imran is the complainant in the case against Railways police, alleging that a road had been under construction from Natha Khan to Pehlwan Goth for the past four months.
According to Imran, Cantt police station SHO Ahsan Rasheed arrived at the site with other police personnel and assaulted him, leading to his alleged torture and subsequent hospitalization at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
Separately, an FIR against Imran and others was registered at the Railway Karachi Cantonment police station on the complaint of a railways official, Mohammed Hussain.
The FIR invokes Sections 147, 148, 149, 186, 353, 354, 324, and 506-B of the Pakistan Penal Code, as well as provisions of the Railways Act and Anti-Terrorism Act.
The FIR states that a railways official had noted the construction of a road 'on a railway track' under the Natha Khan Bridge, terming it 'illegal' and asking for it to be stopped.
Imran, in a fit of anger, is alleged to have pulled out a pistol and pointed it towards Railways SHO Ahsan Rasheed while using abusive language, leading to an attack by around 25-30 city wardens on the Railways police.
