LAHORE, July 15: The Gowal-mandi police on Tuesday ‘held in captivity’ the father and brother of a girl who died in the emergency ward of Mayo Hospital owing to alleged negligence of doctors a few days ago.

The dear ones of Sadaf Munir were kept in ‘illegal custody’ for more than one hour, it is learnt. Seven doctors were suspended from service in the wake of the family’s outcry that the girl had fallen a victim to negligence.

Munir Mughal of Shahdara came to the Mayo Hospital to appear before a four-member inquiry committee of senior doctors, constituted by the Punjab health secretary to probe the death of his young daughter.

As soon as Munir entered the premises of the hospital, scores of policemen, headed by the Gowalmandi circle supervisory police officer, appeared on official vehicles and took him into custody.

On offering resistance, the policemen started thrashing Munir in the presence of his wife and son.

The police treated Munir’s son Imran in the same manner when he stepped forward to save his father. Both were later taken to the Gowalmandi police station from where the law enforcers released them after an hour.

According to Munir Mughal, the Gowalmandi police kept him in the police station to coerce him into withdrawing the case. He alleged that the police had taken action on the pressure of the seven doctors who had been suspended from their jobs on the recommendations of an inquiry committee.

Gowalmandi police SHO Nofil Zahoor said they were creating fuss in the hospital and the police took them to the Mayo Hospital chowki for some time.