KARACHI: Management of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) and its staff in procurement section have registered first information reports (FIRs) against each other involving the issue of “artificial” shortage of medicines.

A spokesperson for the NICVD said an FIR had been registered with the Saddar police station against Khurram Hassan, and head of the hospital’s security Latif Dar for being part of the “artificial shortage” of medicines at the hospital.

“The NICVD management has decided to take stern action against the elements who have created artificial shortage of medicines and conspired to spread negative propaganda against the healthcare facility,” a spokesperson for the hospital stated on Monday.

The management said the two accused had misused a “dummy newspaper” in which they got “fabricated and false reports” published to harm “our credibility and in a bid to blackmail the NICVD management.

“But when they could not succeed by publishing such fake news reports, they began artificial shortages of medicines which are provided to patients free of cost. However, the management took a prompt action [to rectify the situation],” said the spokesperson.

The management claimed that the procurement head had ordered his subordinates that they should not cooperate with the management in releasing the medicines.

“For that matter, those subordinates had filed a complaint [regarding such order from their chief] to the management.”

The NICVD spokesperson claimed Mr Hassan attempted to attack Dr Malik Hameedullah, administrative executive of the NICVD when the latter asked the former to explain the shortages of medicines during a meeting on Nov 23.

Mr Hassan, however, got his FIR registered against Dr Hameedullah and others on Nov 28, a day before the hospital filed the counter FIR.

He, along with hospital’s security head Latif Dar, filed the FIR with the Saddar police station in which he levelled serious allegations against the hospital’s administrator and several other officials.

He said that on Nov23, the hospital’s management consultant summoned him for a meeting where Dr Hameedullah also arrived and attempted to attack him.

He claimed that he succeeded to flee the room, when the administrator went to his room to get a gun, and got shelter in Mr Dar’s office.

“Some 10 to 12 persons were accompanying [Mr] Hameedullah when they came to Mr Dar’s room and tried to drag me outside. I could manage to call 15 and informed them about the situation. They gathered more people against me, many of whom were wielding batons. However, police reached the scene and saved me from them, but till then many of them had already beaten me with batons,” said Mr Hassan.

However, the NICVD’s spokesperson said that after getting an FIR filed against the duo, both officials “have fled”.

“[The management] has approved disciplinary action against the two officials,” said the spokesperson.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2019