PESHAWAR: The district administration and health department seized huge quantity of drugs stolen from government hospitals in a joint raid from a warehouse in Gul Bahar locality on Saturday night.

A statement issued here on Sunday said that Assistant Commissioner Dr Ihtashmul Haq raided a godown on late Saturday night and recovered medicines worth Rs5 million.

The owner of the warehouse was arrested on the spot while further investigations were started to nab all those involved in the theft of medicines from government healthcare institutions.

It said that the members of the task force team, constituted under Directorate of Drug Control of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department, also took part in the raid on the warehouse and took the seized drugs in their possession.

Chief drug inspector Imranullah Khan, senior drug inspector Zakir Shah and provincial drug inspector Mohammad Sajid took part in the action.

The statement said that the seized medicines are stamped by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, Sindh government, Wapda Hospital, CDA Hospital, Defence Forces and other government hospitals.

It said that official labels and stamps were being removed from the medicines to repack and supply those to the market for sale.

The medicines include drugs used for Covid-19 patients, women during pregnancy and insulin meant for diabetic patients coming to the government hospitals for examination and treatment.

All medicines were taken into custody. An individual was arrested, who was being investigated, and further action would be taken on information, said the statement.

Officials said that health department would take stern action against its employees for indulging in stealing of the medicines. “We have been probing the matter and all hospitals from where the stuff was stolen would also face action along with the people involved in the pilferage,” they added.

They said that other departments from where drugs were stolen would also be taken on board to ensure that the responsible people received penalty in accordance with the law.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2021