Karachi, December 3, 2025: The Sindh Local Government Department on Wednesday suspended several officials after a three-year-old boy tragically died after falling into an open manhole in Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal area.
The action comes after Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah chaired a meeting to review the incident near the Nipa flyover. Copies of the suspension notifications, show that among those suspended are:
- Imran Ahmed Rajput, Senior Director of Municipal Services at Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC)
- Rashid Fayyaz, Assistant Executive Engineer at Town Municipal Corporation, Gulshan-e-Iqbal
- Waqar Ahmed, Executive Engineer of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation
- Gulshan-e-Iqbal Assistant Commissioner Aamir Ali Shah
- Mukhtiarkar Salman Farsi
The incident, which occurred on Sunday night, drew widespread criticism on social media, with users condemning governance lapses. The boy, reportedly the only child of his parents, fell into the uncovered manhole, which had allegedly been without a lid for several days.
Local residents pooled resources to bring in machinery to rescue the child. He was found 14 hours later on Monday morning, with eyewitnesses claiming state machinery arrived after a prolonged delay.
Karachi police have formed a three-member inquiry committee, headed by SSP East DIG Admin Ahmed Nawaz Cheema, along with SSP Investigation Central Anum Tajammul. The committee, constituted under Karachi Police Chief Javed Alam Odho, will investigate the circumstances surrounding the tragedy and determine responsibility.
As part of the probe, police visited the residence of the deceased child, met the family, and began recording statements. The committee will submit its findings to the police chief upon completion.
The Red Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project issued a statement clarifying that the site of the incident is far from ongoing construction works. The management stressed that the BRT project is not responsible for maintaining or repairing drainage or sewerage infrastructure in the area. Any nearby excavation was approximately 300 meters away from the incident site.
However, a KMC investigation report held both the Red Line BRT project and the department store administration responsible. “The ongoing BRT construction work at the location is a significant contributing factor based on reports from concerned inspectors and area residents,” the report stated. “The BRT construction has resulted in severe damage and disruption of the drainage system running from Nipa towards Aziz Bhatti Park.”
The tragic incident has reignited calls for stricter oversight and maintenance of Karachi’s public infrastructure to prevent similar accidents in the future.
