KARACHI: As many as 12 men were arrested and booked in a terrorism case for attacking a polio team in the Gulzar-i-Hijri area on Thursday, officials said.

They said that an FIR was lodged against 25 individuals and efforts were underway to arrest the absconding suspects.

A spokesperson for Sindh Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah said that the district health officer (DHO) East and others, along with policemen, were “conducting a polio refusal conversion drive in a hardcore area of the Mehsud community near Abul Hassan Ispahani Road when a group of miscreants initially verbally abused the polio team and later physically assaulted them”.

According to him, the mob said that they would not allow administration of polio drops to their children. When the DHO tried to persuade them, the suspects started beating up the polio team. The police rushed to the spot and saved the polio workers and the DHO from the mob. However, the attackers also pelted stones at the police mobile and managed to escape, he added.

The chief secretary took strict notice of the attack on the polio team and instructed the inspector general of police to ensure swift arrests of all those responsible.

He also ordered an increase in security for polio teams across the province.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2025