KARACHI: The tussle between Pakistan Railways (PR) and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) over the construction of a Rs780 million road took a dramatic turn on Monday, with both sides filing cases against each other, accusing one another of serious offences including terrorism and kidnapping, while senior officials of both institutions vowed not to back down from their respective positions.

The matter did not end there, as piles of garbage were found outside PR’s offices and the residence of one of its senior officials early in the morning, raising suspicions among the institution’s top officials that the waste had been dumped by the municipal body in retaliation.

The dispute erupted on Sunday afternoon when PR police personnel arrived at the spot and stopped the work on the Rs780m KMC project to build a dual carriageway linking Natha Khan Bridge with Pehlwan Goth and Habib University, running parallel to Chakor Nullah.

The railways, a federal government enterprise, maintained that the road project encroaches on land belonging to the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) and that the construction on the land was without authorisation.

Karachi police detain two PR employees; railway police pick up a Sharea Faisal police officer after quarrel; garbage dumped outside divisional superintendent’s residence

The move prompted KMC City Wardens Director Saim Imran to reach the spot on Sunday with his contingent. A heated exchange between the two sides soon turned into a physical scuffle, with KMC alleging that PR police personnel assaulted the City Wardens director before taking him to a Railways police station.

Though the City Wardens director was released after hours of talks between the two sides, the KMC high-ups moved to the Sharea Faisal police station in the wee hours to lodge an FIR against PR police officials for kidnapping and assaulting its officer.

The KMC’s City Wardens Director, Saim Imran Khan, lodged an FIR against railway officials.

According to the FIR, the complainant said that on Oct 18, he was performing his official duties at Natha Khan Bridge when, at around 3:30pm, Railways police SHO Ahsan Rasheed arrived with eight to 10 other persons.

The City Wardens director alleged that the SHO began beating and manhandling him soon after arriving, before forcibly putting him in a Railways police mobile and taking him to an unknown location, where he was “tied and subjected to torture”.

He said the Railways police continued to torture him, as a result of which he became unconscious and later regained consciousness at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

The City Wardens director said he wanted legal proceedings to be initiated against Railways police SHO Ahsan Rasheed and unidentified railway personnel for torture, kidnapping and illegal confinement.

Terrorism charges against KMC officials

In a tit-for-tat move, PR also lodged an FIR against KMC officials later in the evening, accusing them of offences including terrorism.

The Railways police lodged an FIR against City Wardens Director Saim Imran Khan and others under anti-terrorism and other provisions at the Railway Karachi Cantt police station, on the complaint of a railway official, Mohammed Husain.

According to the FIR, railway official Ahmed Jehanzeb told the police on Oct 18 that a road was being constructed “illegally” on the railway track beneath Natha Khan Bridge and that the construction should be stopped.

The complainant said that when he reached the spot, he asked the KMC sub-engineer, Bilal, to produce a no-objection certificate (NOC) from PR authorising the road construction. In the meantime, he alleged, City Wardens Director Saim Imran Khan, in a fit of anger, pointed a pistol at Railways police SHO Ahsan Rasheed and started using abusive language.

The FIR further alleged that Saim Imran tore the Railways SHO’s uniform, created fear and terror with other City Wardens personnel, and assaulted railway employees.

A senior railways official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a detailed report on the incident had been sent to the organisation’s headquarters in Lahore.

“There is a directive from the ministry to lodge an FIR against the KMC officials,” he said. “PR police personnel were performing their duties and protecting the railway’s assets within their mandate. They were harassed, terrorised and obstructed from doing their job and were then booked on fabricated charges. This is not acceptable.”

He denied the impression that the railways had acted suddenly. “Nothing happened suddenly. We had previously informed the KMC through a letter that the land belongs to the PR”.

The KMC had filled the KCR track with construction material, he added.

“For the last three months, we have been asking the municipal body to stop the construction, but they did not listen to us”, said the official.

He also cited the early morning incident in which a dumper-load of garbage was unloaded outside the residence of a divisional superintendent and the offices of Pakistan Railways on I.I. Chundrigar Road.

He suspected that the municipal body had carried out the act to vent its anger against the PR.

“We don’t have any evidence, but who will do that?” he said. “This is an extremely shameful act. The worst part is that despite lodging a complaint, the garbage was not removed, forcing Pakistan Railways to clear the waste from both locations on its own”.

In the evening, a Sharea Faisal police team arrived at Cantonment Railway Station to arrest suspects allegedly involved in the “kidnapping, torture and illegal confinement” of the KMC’s City Wardens director.

A police official who wished not to be named told Dawn that the Sharea Faisal police team arrived at the Cantt Railway police station, where a scuffle broke out.

The officer said Sharea Faisal police detained two railway employees.

In what appeared to be a tit-for-tat move, the Railway police detained a Sharea Faisal police officer after a quarrel.

Meanwhile, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab visited the site of the road project on Monday and “directed officials to resume construction, vowing that development work would continue despite attempts to obstruct it”.

During his visit to Natha Khan-Chakoor Nullah Road and the road connecting Natha Khan to Pehlwan Goth, the mayor said, “The journey of Karachi’s development and public service will continue uninterrupted under all circumstances.”

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2026