LAHORE: A family on Monday lodged a complaint with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) alleging that the doctors involved in the illegal organ transplant had “killed” its boy during the procedure.

“The family of Kashif today approached us and told how they lost him at the hands of the doctors in question during kidney transplant,” FIA Deputy Director Jamil Ahmed Khan told Dawn.

“We are examining the complaint and will decide whether a murder case is instituted against the culprit doctors,” he added.

The FIA on Saturday last arrested Dr Fawad Mumtaz (a plastic surgeon at Lahore General Hospital) and Altamash Kheral (general secretary, Young Doctors Association and under training anaesthetist at LGH) and two paramedics during a raid at EME society near Thokar Niaz Beg for illegal kidney transplant.

The FIA booked both doctors, their fleeing accomplice Dr Saqib and two paramedical staffers - Umer Draz and Muhammad Shahzad - under sections 10 and 11 of the Punjab Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act (Amended) 2012 and 109 of Pakistan Penal Code.

“We have also written to the banks concerned for freezing the accounts of the doctors and also the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council for cancellation of their licenses,” the FIA official said.

Meanwhile, a judicial magistrate on Monday allowed the FIA to have four-day physical custody of the four members of the gang.

The FIA personnel produced Dr Fawad Mumtaz, Dr Altamash Kharal, Umar Draz and Muhammad Shahzad before Magistrate Hasan Sarfraz Cheema at the district courts.

An assistant director of the agency told the court the suspects were well named in the FIR and a specific role had been attributed to them. He said a heinous offence had been committed by the suspects. He also presented relevant documents to establish the allegations against the suspects and sought their physical remand for further interrogation.

Counsel for the suspects argued the FIA had not produced the case property and during recovery proceedings no private witness had been associated in the case. He said the suspects had nothing to do with the alleged occurrence. He asked the court to discharge the suspects in the case and also order their medical examination.

The magistrate observed that the record produced by the prosecution showed that the suspects were well named in the FIR while recovery was yet to be made and investigation was also yet to be completed.

The magistrate granted the FIA four-day physical remand of the suspects and also directed the investigating officer to get the suspects medically examined from the district headquarters hospital concerned and produced them again on May 5.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2017