KARACHI, Nov. 26: Encroachments outside the Civil Hospital were removed on Friday following cancellation of an NOC granted to the Chipa Welfare Trust by a previous administration of the Civil Hospital Karachi.

The Adviser to Chief Minister on Health, Faisal Malik, cancelled the NOC on Friday following complaints against the trust. Ramzan Chipa, patron-in-chief of his organization, was arrested by the police. He had refused to come out of his office, insisting that he would present his arrest before press photographers only.

SHO Risala Salman Waheed told Dawn that the police arrested Ramzan Chipa on a complaint lodged by town official Zubair Mughal saying the former was creating hurdles in official work.

"I shifted Mr Ramzan Chipa to the Risala PS where a formal FIR under Section 353 will be lodged against him," SHO Risala added. Officials of the Saddar town, headed by the Town Municipal Officer, Haider Rizvi, on Friday bulldozed the structures located at the entrance of Civil Hospital's emergency ward. The structures razed included office of the Chipa Welfare Trust and Shah PCO.

The much-delayed action on Friday came following the arrest of four suspects in the aftermath of the burning of an Edhi booth outside the CHK and the abduction and torture of an Edhi volunteer from the JPMC. A senior police official told Dawn that two of the four arrested suspects belonged to the Chipa Welfare Trust.

An NOC was issued to the Chipa Welfare Trust a few years back on a strong recommendation by a former MS of the Civil Hospital. Since then, successive officials had tried to remove the encroachments, but failed in their efforts due to political pressures.

Meanwhile, an Edhi statement said on Friday that a man came to meet Abdul Sattar Edhi on Thursday, along with a photographer and introduced himself as Ramzan. He requested Mr Edhi to pose for a photograph with him. A spokesman for the Edhi Foundation termed Ramzan Chipa's move as mala fide.