MULTAN, Feb 13: An assistant director of the Multan Anti-Corruption Establishment has been harassing a surgeon of Lodhran district headquarters hospital and his wife for the last two months and forcing them to give a statement against a former director of health services (DHS).

In a letter to the National Accountability Bureau chairman, Lodhran DHQ hospital’s consultant surgeon Muhammad Aslam said that ACE assistant director Ali Akbar Bhatti summoned him and his wife Dr Nayyara Aslam at his office in Multan some two months ago.

The ACE official forced the couple to sign a concocted statement containing baseless and false allegations against Multan’s former DHS Dr Muhammad Iqbal Khan. They refused to sign and gave him a statement which they deemed as correct.

Dr Aslam said that Mr Bhatti threatened them of dire consequences and since then had been forcing them to give statement against Dr Khan.

Ali Akbar Bhatti has been probing a number of cases against some senior health department officials on behalf of the NAB.

Mr Bhatti is investigating against Dr Khan on the report of Sharif Ansari, a former employee of the health department. Ansari was sacked by Dr Khan over the charges of inefficiency and malpractices.

The complaint of Dr Aslam against the highhandedness of the ACE official is not the first one as a number of other health department officials have already complained against him for forcing them to give statements against Dr Khan and other senior officials.

A health department official Zareef moved the Lahore High Court against the excesses of the ACE official.

Ali Akbar Bhatti was a city magistrate in Multan in 2000. The then deputy commissioner of Multan directed him to hold an inquiry against Dr Khan on the application of Sharif Ansari.

In his inquiry report (No 7503-M dated 10.4.2000), Mr Bhatti had declared the allegations levelled by Mr Ansari against Dr Khan as baseless.

The district magistrate said in an order (No 975/RDM dated 27.04.2000) that according to the report of city magistrate Ali Akbar Bhatti the allegations against Dr Khan were proved false, frivolous and baseless.