PNN: A ‘surprise visit’ by the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Anti-Corruption Circle to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) headquarters on Thursday created unease within the city administration, with Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab expressing disapproval and terming the episode ‘damaging’ to the city’s image.
The FIA said that a Combined Inquiry Team (CIT) of its Anti-Corruption Circle, Karachi, constituted for enquiries concerning Evacuee Trust Property Board properties (EPTB), visited the KMC office for the purpose of seeking official records required for the ongoing probe.
According to sources, the team first visited the office of the municipal commissioner before moving to the Land Record Room on the second floor of the building. However, investigators found the record room locked, reportedly leading to frustration among the officials.
The latest action is not the first instance of friction between the FIA and the city administration. In December last year, the FIA, along with the ETPB, claimed to have “recovered” and “vacated” the historic Karachi Cotton Exchange Building on I.I. Chundrigar Road in what it described as a joint operation, declaring the property a federal trust asset. Mayor Wahab had strongly contested the move, terming it unlawful and maintaining that the building belongs to the KMC.
Reacting to the latest development, the mayor indicated that such actions create an impression of administrative discord and undermine the city’s institutional authority.
He suggested that abrupt interventions without coordination reflect poorly on Karachi’s governance framework. Responding to the development, Mayor Wahab told Dawn that the KMC administration had always been willing to cooperate with any lawful investigation and expressed surprise at what really caused the federal body to act like that.
“I feel sorry for my city,” he said. “If any kind of assistance was required, we should have been informed. We would have fully cooperated in every possible way. Abrupt actions without coordination may not serve the broader purpose of institutional harmony.”
He emphasised that accountability and transparency remain central to his administration’s approach, while underscoring the need for due process and inter-departmental coordination. When asked whether the FIA had previously sought any documents from him or informed the city administration before visiting the KMC headquarters, the mayor responded briefly, saying, “Not to my knowledge”.
The FIA, however, attempted to downplay the matter. In a statement issued in the evening, the FIA said that the agency’s action was “incorrectly characterised” as a “raid” and insisted that it was just a “visit”.
“The visit was conducted in the spirit of institutional coordination and lawful liaison between FIA and KMC. During the visit, the KMC administration extended full cooperation, and most of the requisitioned record was duly provided to the FIA team,” it said. “For the record, no raid was conducted by FIA at the KMC office. The visit was strictly an official record-requisitioning engagement in connection with the ongoing enquiries.”