KARACHI, Aug 22: New Karachi Nazim Hanif Surti resigned his post on Wednesday amid reports that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement had asked him to quit.

Mr Surti was elected in the 2005 local bodies elections. He recently earned the ire of squatters when he removed encroachments from his constituency.

An MQM MNA told Dawn that Mr Surti resigned because of “personal reasons”.

Muttahida sources, however, said the party had asked him to do so.

They said that Mr Surti was believed to have misbehaved with his constituents, especially some of those who had been in illegal possession of lands for a long time. They added that while action against encroachers was justified, it should be taken with extreme care.