KARACHI: Rangers personnel accompanied by some officials in plain clothes “visited” Dr Ziauddin Hospital of Dr Asim Hussain in North Nazimabad on Wednesday in a second such exercise after the arrest of the former federal minister and chairman of the provincial Higher Education Commission (HEC). The personnel stayed there for over three hours before taking along “some files and documents” of the health facility, officials and sources said.

The paramilitary force also helped vacate a non-functional dispensary of the local administration being used as a party office by the Pakistan People’s Party and handed it over to the deputy commissioner central.

In both actions, the Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, did not release any media brief to share details with the media but the sources and officials aware of Wednesday’s events confirmed the two episodes.

“It was not a raid on the Dr Ziauddin Hospital in North Nazimabad,” said a source citing details of the three-hour-long exercise. “In Saturday’s raid, exit and entrance to the facility were taken over by Rangers soldiers but no such thing happened today (Wednesday). A few Rangers officials in uniform accompanied by some men in plain clothes entered the hospital. They visited the billing and IT section of the hospital, interacted with staff members and returned with a few files and documents.”

He said no staff member was detained or grilled by the Rangers unlike Saturday when they arrested Dr Yousuf Sattar, a deputy medical superintendent of the Dr Ziauddin Hospital and close aide of Dr Hussain. There was not a single moment’s disruption in regular work of the hospital during the Rangers officials’ stay in the health facility, he added.

“After Dr Hussain’s arrest, the law enforcement agencies are in the phase of investigation,” said a senior investigator. “You may witness more raids and arrests on these lines soon. Dr Sattar’s arrest and today’s seizure of some record reflect that trend. So anyone having knowledge of criminal investigation and procedure should not be surprised over the follow-up actions.”

PPP men expelled from dispensary

In another action in Karachi’s Central district, Rangers officials helped vacate a non-functional public dispensary which was being used as the PPP area office.

Though the PPP spokesman insisted that the party had voluntarily vacated the building which, he confirmed, was being misused as a party office, area people and sources in the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation said the paramilitary force helped the KMC reclaim the building.

“It’s a healthcare centre and dispensary near Qalandria Chowk in North Karachi which was built years ago but was lying non-functional,” said a police source. “Gradually it was turned into an office of the political party which had been in power for the past more than seven years. Today Rangers moved in and removed party flags, posters and other politics related stuff from the dispensary and handed over its possession back to the Karachi central deputy commissioner.”

The PPP spokesman denied any role of the Rangers in vacating the dispensary building, saying the ruling party had decided to do that on its own without any interference from any law enforcement agency or warning from the municipal body.

“The PPP Karachi leadership in fact took notice of party offices in a dispensary or public service building,” said the PPP spokesman. “Later it emerged that some young PPP workers had started sitting there to prevent the building from misuse by drug addicts and criminal elements. But still our leaders asked the workers that it’s not a wise move to use any public service building as a party office and ordered them to vacate the dispensary.”

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2015

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