BAHAWALPUR: The Islamia University of Bahawalpur (IUB) has announced that it will conduct drug tests of all its employees, including Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Athar Mehboob.

The decision has been taken in the backdrop of the arrest of the university’s chief security officer Syed Ejaz Hussain Shah.

Baghdadul Jadid police had recovered ice, sex pills and objectionable videos of students and officials from his possession the other day.

In a press release issued by its PRO, the IUB claimed that the university, under the directive and guidelines of Higher Education Commission (HEC), had adopted zero tolerance regarding drugs on the campuses.

After the chief security officer’s arrest, the VC has decided to carry out the blood test of all the employees, including himself, to identify those who do drugs.

Objectionable videos of students and officials of the university were also recovered from the mobile phones of the chief security officer but it’s not known what steps the university has taken in this regard.

The press release added that IUB registrar would ensure to maintain complete transparency in the medical tests from a renowned laboratory. It said VC Prof Dr Athar Mehboob was discharging his official duties and there was no truth in baseless reports of the VC’s arrest and added that some miscreants were out for his VC’s character assassination.

Meanwhile, according to police PRO Umar Saleem, the local police on Friday got three days physical remand of Ejaz Shah, stating that they had yet to recover more material from the suspect.

ARRESTED: Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Circle Officer Sadiq Dhillon along with a magistrate arrested clerk Muhammad Farhan Rafique of District Health Authority (DHA) for taking Rs30,000 bribe for preparation of pension documents of the retired worker.

Published in Dawn, July 22th, 2023