Karachi | Pakistan

In June, consecutive tremors shook Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi. Fifty-seven low-intensity quakes, measuring 1.5-3.8 on the Richter scale, were recorded on 1-25 June, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) reportedly said. Several months later, October began with a 3.2-magnitude quake in Malir, a neighbourhood in the city’s north. Karachi sits near the boundaries of three major tectonic plates, and multiple fault lines run through the city. Some 49 earthquakes with a magnitude of four or above have struck within 300 km of Karachi in the last decade. Mild quakes can sometimes act as “natural pressure releases, potentially reducing the risk of more destructive ones”, but the frequency of these earthquakes has raised concerns among experts, said geological oceanographer and former director of the Geological Survey of Pakistan, Asif Rana. In Karachi, mild quakes can have potentially devastating impacts on buildings that lack structural integrity. The Association of Builders and Developers stated in July...

The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), in a joint raid along with intelligence and law enforcement agencies, arrested several foreign nationals allegedly running a fraudulent Ponzi scheme network in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) area on Thursday, a statement from the agency said. A Ponzi scheme is a form of fraud in which belief in the success of a non-existent enterprise is fostered by the payment of quick returns to the first investors from money invested by later investors. Per the statement, the operation was conducted in DHA Phase 1 and Phase 6, where several foreign nationals were taken into custody during the action. “Important and sensitive data was recovered from the suspects, which is now being examined as part of the investigation,” the statement said. Preliminary inquiries suggest the detained individuals were allegedly running a “well-organised network through a Ponzi scheme,” the statement said, adding that the fraud had affected thousands of people, causing them “ser...

Karachi police said on Sunday that eight suspects, “involved in running an extortion network” were arrested during a raid at the residence of Pakistan Sunni Tehreek (PST) chairman Muhammad Sarwat Ejaz Qadri in Karachi. Special Investigation Unit (SIU) Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Imran Khan confirmed Saturday night’s development during a press briefing in Karachi today. At the same time, he also clarified that Qadri was neither wanted by police nor had he been arrested. Moreover, the official said police had no evidence of the suspects’ association with any party. The SSP also clarified that police had found no evidence of the involvement of the PST chief or any other member in the extortion network. SSP Khan said multiple cases had been registered against the arrested suspects, who were associated with an extortion network run by two men, who he identified as Wasiullah Lakho and Abdul Samad Kathiawari. These two “most-wanted” suspects were reportedly “in hiding abroad”, the official said, adding tha...

The closing ceremony of the 35th National Games was held in Karachi on Saturday, with Pakistan Army taking home the highest number of medals. Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir was the chief guest at the ceremony, which was also attended by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. View this post on Instagram Pakistan Army came in first, taking home 353 medals, out of which 200 were gold, 97 were silver and 56 were bronze. Wapda came in second with 232 medals, out of which 85 were gold, 73 were silver and 74 were bronze. Pakistan Navy came in third with 110 medals, 36 of which were gold, 39 were silver and 35 were bronze. Hosts Sindh finished with 96 medals, out of which 11 were gold, 26 were silver and 59 were bronze. View this post on Instagram After the distribution of the medals, CDF Field Marshal Munir, wearing a pair of black sunglasses and Sindhi ajrak around his neck, officially declared the games closed. View this post on Instagram Addressing the ceremony...

Karachi has introduced a drone-assisted e-challan system, marking a major step forward in the city’s technological upgrades under the Safe City Project.

A man riding a motorcycle was killed on Wednesday morning after a water tanker collided with his vehicle in Karachi, prompting a mob to torch the tanker. According to a statement by Khawaja Ajmer Nagri police, the incident took place near 4k Chowrangi in North Karachi. The statement said the motorcyclist sustained severe injuries in the accident, following which he was rushed to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead. The tanker’s driver managed to escape, leaving his vehicle. The tanker was then set on fire by a mob, the statement added. Separately, a bus ran over a 45-year-old woman in the Baldia-8 area of Karachi on Wednesday morning, a statement by Saeedabad police said. The body was rushed to Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi, it said, adding that the driver and conductor of the bus managed to escape. Today’s incidents come two days after a dumper of the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) carrying garbage struck and killed a motorcycle rider in the Nagan Chowrangi area of Ka...

A first information report (FIR) has been registered under terrorism charges after one of the many rallies taken out in Karachi to mark Sindh Culture Day on Sunday turned violent, it emerged on Monday. Police on Sunday resorted to tear gas shelling to prevent participants of the rally from moving towards the Red Zone via Sharea Faisal and detained 45 people, 12 of whom were later released. According to the police, participants of the rally attacked personnel, who then responded with baton-charging and tear gas shelling. According to the FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn, a case has now been registered against 12 named individuals arrested at the scene and “300-400” unidentified individuals. The case has been registered under Sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 144 (joining unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapon), 324 (attempted murder), 186 (obstructing public servants), 353 (assault or ...

The dust of the city coated everything – the flags, the crisp new doboks, the hopeful faces of fathers shepherding their children. After 18 years, this was Karachi’s welcome: not a red carpet, but a gritty testament. The National Games had come home. The city, in its quintessential fashion, demanded a pilgrimage. For the first Games on its soil after 18 years, it offered an obstacle course of its own making – cranes standing like sentinels over diverted roads that formed labyrinths of progress. But through the grit and the detours, they came. A river of colour, athletes from every corner of the country in their distinct tracksuits, and locals converging on the National Stadium. They arrived not for a mere ceremony, but in spite of the journey. “I am almost covered in this dust,” a father told Dawn, guiding his young son in a taekwondo dobok toward the gates. “But we are glad. We are here.” Flags of various participating contingents seen during the opening ceremony of National Games in Karachi on Saturday. — T...

A woman and her teenage daughter were stabbed to death over “honour” in the Gizri area of Karachi on Friday night, police said. Police said Kulsoom, 43, and her daughter Maryam, 11, were stabbed and killed by her husband, Samiullah. South Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Syed Asad Raza said the double murder appeared to be an “honour” killing. The suspect was arrested, and the knife used in the double homicide was also recovered and seized. Police registered a case against the suspect on the complaint of the victim’s brother Faisal Khan. Raza said the suspect stabbed and injured his wife and daughter in their home located near Noorani Masjid. The victims were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where they were pronounced dead. DIG Raza said the suspect had “confessed” to the crime. He said the initial probe showed that the suspect was arrested around two and a half months ago in another case and was released on bail around three days ago. In Pakistan, ‘honour’ killings continued to claim ...

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Friday condemned police action against Aurat March activists in Karachi a day earlier, calling on authorities to respect people’s access to civic spaces. On Thursday, a rights activist was ‘briefly detained’ from outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC), ahead of a press conference by Aurat March over the alleged abduction of two Baloch girls. The organisers said classical dancer and human rights activist Sheema Kermani was also manhandled by police, while other women participants were also “mistreated” by female officers on their way to the press club. Journalist Zofeen Ebrahim was also barred from attending the press conference, which was eventually held at the KPC. In a post on social media platform X today, the HRCP said it condemned the police obstruction of Aurat March’s scheduled press conference and the brief detention and manhandling of activists and reporters, including Kermani. “We are also alarmed that journalist Ebrahim was barred from entering the pr...

Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab visited the grieving family of a three-year-old boy who fell into an open manhole and drowned in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on Wednesday night, assuring them of an impartial inquiry and action against those found negligent. The body of the boy, who drowned in an open manhole near Nipa in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on Sunday night, was found on Monday, around 15 hours after the incident occurred. The child’s tragic death, particularly the lack of cooperation from relevant civic agencies to launch an immediate search, had angered relatives and area residents, who staged a protest on University Road on Sunday night and again during the day on Monday. On Tuesday, many political parties held protests against the provincial administration and demanded that the Karachi mayor resign, while pleas were also filed in courts demanding action against city officials. A post by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation on X on Wednesday night said the mayor visited the boy’s family and extended his condolences. “An imparti...

KARACHI - China has donated 58 solar-powered street lights to Karachi, in what officials described as a small but practical boost to the city’s public safety and local infrastructure.

A Karachi anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Wednesday acquitted Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader Dr Mahrang Baloch in a case of sedition and public mischief registered against her in October last year. Mahrang had been booked in the terrorism case by Malir district’s Quaidabad police on Oct 11, 2024, for allegedly inciting people by levelling “allegations against security institutions”. ATC Judge Ayaz Mustafa Jokhio announced the verdict today on Mahrang’s acquittal plea in the case, filed by Advocate Jibran Nasir. “I am of the view that there is no probability of the accused being convicted of any offence. I hereby allow this application and acquit the accused, Mst. Mahrang Baloch, d/o Abdul Ghaffar,” the court order read. The rights activist was cleared of charges under section 265-K (power of court to acquit accused at any stage) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Mahrang, as per the court order, appeared via video link from Quetta Prison, where she has been incarcerated after her arrest in March....

• PSQCA finds formalin and phosphate in samples • Commissioner says Rs220 per litre milk price was fixed on Nov 27 and retailers strictly told to ensure quality KARACHI: The city commissioner has informed the Sindh High Court that all milk samples collected from Karachi were found unfit for human consumption by the Pakistan Standards & Quality Control Authority. The report, which was submitted on behalf of the commissioner, also said that presence of formalin in 22 samples and phosphate in eight samples indicated extensive adulteration. It also maintained that there was no justification for any increase in the price of fresh milk particularly due to decline in consumption of milk related products in winter. Citing the department of agriculture, supply and price, the commissioner and others as respondents, a petition was filed in 2023 by a dairy farmer impugning a notification about the official price of fresh milk fixed in October 2023. A report on behalf of the commissioner of Karachi was placed before a two...

A minor girl died of burns while five of her family members were injured in an explosion in a car in Karachi’s Quaidabad area early on Tuesday morning, according to police, hospital and rescue services officials. They added that six people suffered burn injuries when a liquified petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder exploded inside the car at Quaidabad’s main roundabout. Rescue-1122 spokesperson Hassaanul Haseeb Khan told Dawn that the family was filling LPG cylinders from a roadside shop when the explosion took place. Regarding possible reasons, Khan said that generally, “Such explosions take place because of a lack of mandatory hydrostatic tests after a certain period. “Another possible reason was that when the cylinder is filled with LPG with pressure, it triggers an explosion,” he added. Khan noted a similar incident in Shah Faisal Colony recently with human casualties. He added that these roadside shops took no precautionary measures, as they were illegal. “The injured were transported to the burns centre at Kara...

Karachi is often portrayed in headlines as chaotic and overwhelmed by modern sprawl. But scattered among the skyscrapers, traffic-choked roads, and dense informal settlements stand reminders of a different city — a port once celebrated for its order, elegance, and architecture. The clocktower at Eduljee Dinshaw Charitable Dispensary in Karachi. — Anadolu Agency Among the most striking relics are Karachi’s historic clock towers — orange and rose-pink structures from the late 19th and early 20th centuries — that once guided the city’s rhythms. Today, many are crumbling, forgotten or overtaken by encroachments, leaving historians and conservationists worried that a rare chapter of the city’s past may soon disappear. In the heart of downtown Saddar, squeezed between Chinese dental clinics and corner grocery shops, stands the 19th-century clock tower of the Eduljee Dinshaw Charitable Dispensary — now a Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) facility. The clocktower at Eduljee Dinshaw Charitable Dispensary in Karac...

The body of a three-year-old boy who fell into an open manhole in Karachi’s Gulshan-i-Iqbal on Sunday night was recovered on Monday, more than 12 hours after the incident was first reported. The development was confirmed by both Rescue 1122 and Edhi, with the latter adding that the body was being taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. Images shared on social media last night had showed a large number of citizens gathered in the area as rescue work was underway. Other videos also showed the child’s distraught mother calling on someone to save her child. Earlier, Rescue 1122 spokesperson Hassaanul Haseeb Khan told Dawn that the service’s central command received information about the incident at 10pm on Sunday night. He said the boy was with his parents, who were shopping at a private departmental store near Nipa. He said the boy fell into the manhole after the family left the store. Khan added that Rescue 1122 did not usually initiate search operations at night due to a lack of visibility. But, since a “...

• Traffic police, KDA’s TEB, Cantt boards, SMTA are involved in regulating traffic, installation of signals, signs across city • Nearly half of city’s 130 traffic signals are out of order, say sources • Mass transit body recently installed 11 signals • Govt mulls single body for traffic engineering KARACHI: While the Sindh government appears to be overzealous about strict implementation of e-challans, the responsibility of traffic engineering remains scattered among multiple entities, hindering the development of a seamless and efficient transportation network in Karachi. Sources told Dawn that the absence of a unified traffic engineering authority was a significant obstacle to designing and implementing solutions — from road design to traffic signal timing — leaving the city’s traffic stuck in multiple gridlocks. They said that the challenging task of traffic engineering and management was at present shared among multiple entities, including the Traffic Engineering Bureau (TEB) of the Karachi Development Aut...

The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) has launched a project to build a new air traffic control (ATC) tower and a modern rescue and firefighting station (RFFS) at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport, a PAA press release said on Friday. According to the press release, the design phase of the project is expected to be completed within six months, with a two-year construction period for the tower and the station. “The facilities will be designed and constructed by MM Pakistan in [a] joint venture with CEMOSA and Fairbanks Architects from Spain, bringing international expertise in airport planning and communication and navigation/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) systems integration,” the press release read. A photo of Jinnah International Airport in Karachi from December 26, 2024. — Abyan Amir It added that senior architect Bruce Fairbanks and CNS/ATM specialist Juan Cruz Canabate participated in a four-day workshop at Jinnah International, where they interacted with local aviation professionals to establish d...

Water supply to multiple areas of Karachi will remain disrupted today (Thursday) as the Dhabeji substation undergoes scheduled annual maintenance, raising the possibility of a shortfall of nearly 100 million gallons.