RAWALPINDI: A woman polio worker was hit and injured by two men riding a motorcycle in the Dhoke Matkal area of the city on Thursday, police here said on Friday.

Syed Nazakat Kazmi, one of the inspection team members, complained to the Ratta Amral police that he along with Imrana Shaheen was checking the duties of anti-polio vaccination staff in the Union Council-4 when two unidentified persons riding a motorcycle hit her from behind and sped off.

The injured polio worker tumbled after being hit by the motorbike riders and fell on the ground.

On seeing her screaming, Mr Kazmi, who was walking a few metres ahead of her, rushed back but could not see the miscreants.

In the meantime, a policeman who was on the security duty with the polio team vaccinating children in the nearby street was called to the spot.

The injured, who is a senior supervisor of anti-polio campaign team, was taken to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital where she was provided first-aid and later sent home.

“Yes, a 35-year-old health worker, who was probably attacked, was brought to the hospital with minor injuries and bruises. She was provided with first-aid and later allowed to go home,” a nursing staff at the emergency ward of the hospital told Dawn.

When contacted, assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Naeem Abbas, who was investigating the case, said Ms Shaheen was injured after being hit by a recklessly-driven motorcycle.

He said the woman polio worker was injured in a hit-and-run accident.

When asked whether she was deliberately hit by unidentified motorcycle riders or it was an accident, he replied: “No it was not a deliberate attack on the polio inspection team member but an accident.”

However, he added, he had recorded the statement of the victim and registered a case against unidentified persons.

“She neither could note the registration number of the motorcycle nor saw its riders. She cannot identify the riders or the clothes they were wearing at that time,” the IO said, adding the police would try to trace the two men.

The investigating officer said a police team comprising an ASI and four constables had been deployed to provide security to the polio vaccination team in UC-4 area of Dhoke Matkal.

“Yes, yesterday’s incident involving the senior member of an inspection team was deliberate and not an accident,” Dr Khalid Randhawa, the district health officer, told Dawn.

However, he added, some attacks on polio teams were very serious but in most of the cases in the district local miscreants were involved.

Mr Randhawa said Ms Shaheen was the in-charge of the polio team in the area and was on an inspection duty when she was hit and injured.

“She is fine now,” he said, adding the police had been providing security to the polio teams as much as was possible for them.

He added that four minor incidents had happened with the polio teams during the one-day anti-polio campaign in the district. However, the one reported to the police on Thursday was serious.

“Whenever miscreants involved in attacking the polio teams are traced, their parents patched up with the suspects,” Mr Randhawa said.

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