FixIt founder MNA Alamgir Khan booked for befouling CM House gate

Alamgir Khan had thrown buckets of sewage and garbage at the CM House gate

KARACHI: Karachi Police registered on Wednesday a case against FixIt founder, MNA Alamgir Khan and eight other people, including Sadaqat Abro, for throwing sewerage water at the gate of the Sindh Chief Minister's House in Karachi.

Khan, who was recently elected an MNA on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ticket, has been campaigning against the provincial government from the past couple of years for not cleaning Karachi city and not resolving other civic issues faced by the citizens.

Civil Lines Police also arrested a FixIt member, Saifullah, after registering the case.

A messy affair

Parliamentarian Alamgir Khan, accompanied by several FixIt campaigners, threw buckets full of sewerage water and rubbish at the main entrance of the CM's residence. The move was meant to act as wake-up call for the chief minister to clean up the city.

On Wednesday, the Civil Lines Police registered FIR no. 2019/19 under sections 341, 188, 278 and 290/34, for violation of Section 144.

According to the FIR, Khan and his accomplices had reached the CM House on a motorcycle rickshaw and loaded with garbage and buckets of water, which they threw in front of the gate.

The FIR states that Section 144 was violated on entering the Red Zone in this manner.  The garbage and dirty water caused inconvenience to pedestrians and traffic was disrupted by the actions of the accused.

Saddar SP Abdullah Ahmed said that police had reviewed footage of the incident from videos circulating on social media as well as those being aired on TV channels.

Not the first time

Khan is an MBA from Iqra University. He started a campaign in January 2016, wherein he would paint the portrait of then Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah alongside uncovered manholes and garbage dumps in various part of Karachi.

On February 25, 2016, Khan was arrested by the police when he tried to empty garbage bins outside the Chief Minister House. The next day, he was released on bail. In March 2016, a city court in Karachi indicted him in a case of wrongful restraint.

In August 2018, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) awarded him the ticket to contest the by-election on the NA-243 Karachi East-II Constituency.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2019.