LAHORE: A joint team of police and the officials of the task force on drugs raided a private medical store at Dholanwal, Nawankot, on Sunday and recovered a huge quantity of ‘official medicines’ of the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), Lahore, and the Lahore General Hospital (LGH).

The raiding team arrested some suspects involved in the theft of the drugs from the two hospitals mentioned above and their sale in the private medical store.

Punjab Task Force on Drugs Chairman Khawaja Imran Nazir said the team comprised of Nawankot SHO, Drug Controller Data Ganj Bakhsh Town Imran Sarfraz, Deputy Drug Controller Ravi Town Javid Iqbal, Deputy Drugs Controller Gulberg Town Rana Muhammad Shahid Zafar and other drug inspectors. He said Chief Drug Controller Punjab Azhar Jamal Saleemi was leading the team, which raided and inspected the Ahmed Medical Store and its premises.

The team recovered a huge quantity of government drugs, including those supplied to the PIC and the LGH.

Mr Nazir said some other suspected drugs were also confiscated and sent to the laboratory for tests/analysis. Those arrested on the spot were put behind the bars while the premises had been sealed.

The teams acted on complaints that the huge quantity of medicines had been stolen from both the public hospitals and a mafia of the hospital and private medical stores was behind the theft.

Post Graduate Medical Institute Prof. Dr. Muhammad Al-Fareed Zafar also confirmed the development, saying that he had formed a committee, headed by Prof Dr Muhammad Moin, to check the records of medicines at the LGH.

He directed the members of the committee to submit a report within 48 hours. He asked the LGH MS to relocate the store keepers and other employees appointed at the same place for a long time.

Mr Zafar said the elements who robbed the hospital of medicines would have to face punishment.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2022