KARACHI, Jan 22: The Health Department has requested the Services, General Administration and Coordination Department (SGA&CD), Government of Sindh, to check the authenticity of a letter which was ostensibly issued by the Provincial Monitoring and Coordination Secretariat , General Headquarters, Karachi Log Area, in late December.

The seemingly fake letter was "issued" in the name of a Lt Col Sirajul Arifeen and sent to Chief Secretary Mutawakkil Kazi, it was learnt on Thursday. The letter dated Dec 23, 2003, asked the chief secretary to transfer two section officers - Aashiq Hussain and Akhtar Hakro - as soon as possible because they were "corrupt and under investigation".

Subsequent to the receipt of the letter, the two section officers were transferred from the health department vide order number SOX(SGA&CD)2-221/94, dated Jan 13. Lately, however, the health department has learnt that Lt-Col Sirajul Arifeen had retired more than two years ago. The GHQ letter was hence "fake".

In its letter to SGA&CD dated Jan 21, the health department has bemoaned the fact that its senior officials were not consulted before the transfer of the men. "Mr Ashiq Hussain and Dr Akhtar Ali Hakro, both section officers, have been transferred from Health Department... The Services, General Administration and Coordination Department has however not consulted with Health Department while transferring these two officers and also not communicated the reasons for their transfer."

The letter, a copy of which has been obtained by Dawn, adds: "It has further been informally informed that the letter containing aforesaid report/proposal of Provincial Monitoring and Coordination Secretariat is fake and has not been sent by the said agency, as the said secretariat does not exist now and Lt-Col Sirajul Arifeen has retired since 3 years."

A senior government official told Dawn on Thursday that a number of fake letters might be in circulation and the government departments should take actions after checking the authenticity of each letter.