SAHIWAL: Police detained an Afghan national serving as a doctor in the surgical department of Sahiwal Teaching Hospital (STH) after finding that his Proof of Registration (PoR) card had expired and that he did not possess a valid Pakistani visa.

DPO Usman Tipu confirmed that 38-year-old Dr Noorul Haq Khan was taken into custody on the directions of the interior ministry as he had no valid visa. Dr Noor had been working as a postgraduate resident doctor at STH for the past two years.

According to official records, Dr Noor is an Afghan citizen holding PoR No. UMR1000393550, with a registered residential address at Bashir Chowk, Zimindar Road, Quetta, Balochistan. Documents show he was born on Jan 1, 1988, in Kunduz district of Afghanistan’. The records also list his two daughters, Afifa and Amna, both under the age of five.

The PoR card, issued on July 1, 2021, expired on June 30, 2023, and permitted only temporary stay in Pakistan. Police also recovered Dr Noor’s Afghan passport, which identified his profession as “doctor” but did not contain a valid Pakistani visa.

According to officials, acting on directives from the ministry, Farid Town police reached STH while Dr Noor was on duty.

Hospital sources said he was performing surgery in the operation theatre when he was called to the office of MS Dr Fasil Waheed. After preliminary questioning, police arrested him in the presence of the MS and other senior doctors.

The arrest triggered protests by members of the medical community.

DPO Tipu told Dawn that since Dr Noor’s PoR card had expired and his passport carried no valid visa, he would be deported to Afghanistan in accordance with the government policy. He is currently being held in the Farid Town police lock-up, though no criminal case has been registered against him.

Hospital sources said police did not accept documents relating to Dr Noor’s appointment by the Punjab Health Department.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2026