MANSEHRA: The police on Monday booked relatives and friends of ailing assistant returning officer of NA-15 constituency Mohammad Ishtiaq for taking him away from a hospital here without the doctor’s advice.

The action comes on the complaint of deputy commissioner and district returning officer Bilal Shahid Rao, who insisted doctor’s advice on the matter was ignored.

The FIR was registered by the police under sections 353, 186 and 342 of PPC but they made no arrest until Monday night.

The FIR said ARO Ishtiaq – a heart patient – had a medical condition when he was travelling from Torghar to Mansehra with “sensitive” election material.

It added that the district health officer shifted the ARO to the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital but as the treatment was under way, he was taken away by his family members and friends for diagnostics tests – a false claim.

DRO insists doctor’s advice ignored

The ARO is a government employee. Nobody can discharge him from the hospital without the doctor’s advice so that all those behind his disappearance should be taken to justice under the law, according to the FIR.

Returning officer for NA-15 Mansehra-II constituency Hajrah Samee has reportedly been absenting herself from her office since she issued Form 47 with election results on Feb 9.

PTI-backed candidate Shahzada Gustasab Khan defeated PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif in the constituency.

Meanwhile, Mr Shahzada Gustasab on Monday criticised Mr Sharif for not accepting his election defeat.

“Mr Sharif lost the election to me by over 25,000 votes but regrettably, he is still not accepting his trouncing. I’m ready to confront him again in the electoral arena,” the NA-15 winner told reporters here.

He claimed the NA-15 DRO pressured the RO to declare Mr Sharif’s victory but she refused and opted to absent herself from office.

Mr Gustasab said the people voted for him as a PTI worker and as he won election convincingly, it was not easy to snatch that victory from him amid constant media monitoring.

He said Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl nominee Mufti Kifayatullah, who stood third in the NA-15 election, accepted his defeat wholeheartedly and congratulated him publicly.

“Mr Sharif, who claims to be a champion of democracy, should follow suit.”

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2024