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RAWALPINDI, Nov 2: Robbers on Friday looted Rs2.6 million from a Holy Family Hospital (HFH) ambulance, hospital and police sources said.
The medical superintendent of Holy Family Hospital, Dr Nisar Cheema, said Amir Dad, Abid Shah and Ibrar were returning from State Bank with the employees’ salaries when their ambulance was intercepted by a car (IDJ-1947) at the hospital gate.
Two armed robbers dragged the driver out of the ambulance and snatched the bag containing the cash and escaped.
“Police have been provided the registration number of the car and also other details regarding the robbers. However, till now efforts to trace them have failed”, the medical superintendent told Dawn.
He said in the wake of Friday’s robbery, security arrangements were being reviewed at the hospital.
Later, Dr Cheema briefed the health secretary in the evening, who visited the hospital, about the robbery. The secretary criticized the police for their failure to arrest the culprits.
The police said the involvement of hospital staff could not be ruled out. Therefore, every aspect would be looked into during the investigations, they added.
PROBE ORDERED: An inquiry has been ordered into the robbery.
Punjab health secretary Hassan Wasim Afzal issued the directive while presiding over a meeting at the hospital to discuss the incident and other related matters, including arranging pay for the employees.
A three-man committee, led by Prof (Dr) Khalida Waheed, was constituted to conduct the probe. Other members are Arshad Ali, the director, finance, and Dr Khalid Malik, additional medical superintendent.
He asked the hospital administration and RMC and allied hospitals’ chief executive, Dr Naseemullah, to expedite the inquiry so that salaries could be arranged.
He also censured the officials concerned for security lapse and directed them to evolve fool-proof arrangements to avoid such incidents in future.
The secretary inquired about the incident from the ambulance driver, cashier and peon of the hospital.
Sources said the hospital administration and the secretary were of the view that the culprits were involved in money lending business and had large clientele in the hospital.
A staff member, who brought the salary disclosed, he had seen two of the robbers in the hospital on previous occasions, which the meeting opined, proves that they have links in the hospital.
Another observation made by the members was that the salary encashment had been delayed by a day due to unspecified reasons. Normally the salary was obtained from the bank on the first of every month. Thus, there is a possibility of a link between the culprits and a staffer, who may have intimated the delay to them.
This was sufficient to prove that the whole episode of robbery is linked, even if remotely, with the staff of the hospital and a thorough probe could help reveal their identity.
The secretary also directed the chief executive to investigate why a contract with a private security agency, for delivery of the salary was cancelled.
Mr Afzal and the members criticized the laxity of the police and said with a little effort they could help in tracing the culprits.
The meeting was informed that SSP Rawalpindi Kaleem Imam was informed within minutes of the incident, but the police was slow in reacting as usual.
UTILITY STORE ROBBED: Three armed robbers ransacked a utility store at Eidgah Road and fled away with Rs3,500 and grocery items on Friday, police said.
Syed Ayaz Mehmood, an employee at the store, told police that three persons came into the store and started shopping grocery items.
“Suddenly, one of them took out a pistol and held me at gunpoint. He threatened to kill all of us, if we made any noise”, Ayaz said adding the culprits snatched about Rs3,500 in cash, besides various grocery items and escaped in a taxi, he said.
