LAHORE: A polio worker was shot at and injured by two unidentified motorcyclists in Sanda on Wednesday.

The health department had launched the three-day drive in eight districts of the province, including Lahore, and the incident took place on the last day of the campaign.

The polio workers association held the police responsible for the incident alleging that no police escort was given for the protection of teams.

Reports said a three-member team was administering polio drops to children in Zam Zam Street of Rivaz Garden when two masked motorcyclists came there, opened fire at them and fled.

One of the vaccinators identified as Umer Khan, 22, suffered bullet injuries to his leg and two other members remained unhurt. The injured was said to be stable at Mayo Hospital.

A police official said it might have been a “targetted attack” by the anti-state elements who wanted to engage law-enforcement agencies in Punjab.

He said surprisingly no police team was escorting the polio workers when the unidentified men attacked them.Earlier, a polio worker (a teacher by profession) was shot dead in Faisalabad and another injured in south Punjab when the unidentified armed men attacked them in separate incidents.

Gulshan-i-Ravi Circle DSP Ghulam Abbas Rana held the health department responsible for the incident saying it had not intimated the respective police for security.

Operations DIG Dr Haider Ashraf and Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique visited the Mayo Hospital to inquire after the injured worker.

In another incident, Naseerabad police arrested a man identified as Shakil of Model Colony for refusing polio drops to his children and threatening the vaccinators with dire consequences.

The health workers alerted the police who arrested the man and registered a case against him.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2016