A policeman shot and injured a doctor at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) in Karachi late on Wednesday night allegedly over not being prescribed sleeping pills.

Police said that initial investigation reports suggested that the police constable, who was posted at CTD Civil Lines, shot and injured Dr Fahad Hussain in the emergency ward of the hospital over not getting sleeping pills the previous night by another doctor who had advised him not to take such drugs.

CTD senior official Raja Umer Khattab said that the police constable had been suffering from chest pains for the last 15-20 days. He got tested at Ziauddin Hospital and was diagnosed with typhoid. He visited the NICVD on Tuesday night where the security guard prevented him from entering and asked him to wear a mask first.

After an argument with the guard, the police constable managed to get a mask from someone and entered the emergency ward where he reportedly asked the doctor for sleeping pills as he hadn't slept for three days. Khattab said that the doctor did not give him the medicines upon which the constable went back home.

He returned to the hospital on Wednesday night and asked about the same doctor. The official said that when the police constable found out that doctor was not available, he opened fire on another doctor (Fahad) and managed to escape. Khattab said that after the incident, the suspect visited CTD Civil Lines where he behaved strangely and told his colleagues that he had shot the doctor.

Khattab said he asked police personnel to detain him, adding that the CTD police later handed him over to Saddar police for the investigation. Quoting the suspect's family and colleagues, the CTD official said he believed that lately the detained policeman had become “emotionally disturbed”.

Dr Fahad suffered two bullet wounds in his legs and his condition was said to be out of danger. The police have registered a first information report (FIR) against the police constable under section 324 (attempt to commit qatl-i-amd) of the Pakistan Penal Code on complaint of the wounded doctor.

The complainant in his statement to the police said that he was performing his duty in the emergency ward when a man came and asked him as to whether the doctor from the previous night was there. Fahad said that he told him he didn't know about the doctor's whereabouts upon which the suspect started alleging that “you (doctors) are dishonest and I will not spare you” and shot at both his legs before fleeing.