Probe into anthrax episode

Published November 13, 2001

GUJRAT, Nov 12: The Federal Investigation Agency, focussing eyes on the activities of GPO Employees Union, has initiated a probe into the anthrax episode, it is learnt.

According to reports, two suspected anthrax-prone envelopes were received by deputy senior postmaster (delivery branch) Abdul Hayee and junior accountant Khalid Raza. The matter was brought into the notice of senior postmaster Hanif Tahir who reported it to police and the postmaster-general in Lahore.

Authorities ordered a departmental inquiry into the incident and deputed assistant postmaster Fazal Husain Gondal as inquiry officer.

Following the incident, an FIA team visited the GPO office and recorded statements of Abdul Hayee, Khalid Raza and other employees.

A source quoted Abdul Hayee as saying that some insiders might have sent the letters to defame him as he had a rift with some union office-bearers besides the other staff.

“Union leaders have been pressurizing the senior postmaster to forward my retirement case to authorities by taking a plea of the anthrax disease,” sources quoted Abdul Hayee as saying to the inquiry officer.

Opinion

Editorial

IMF’s unease
Updated 24 May, 2024

IMF’s unease

It is clear that the next phase of economic stabilisation will be very tough for most of the population.
Belated recognition
24 May, 2024

Belated recognition

WITH Wednesday’s announcement by three European states that they intend to recognise Palestine as a state later...
App for GBV survivors
24 May, 2024

App for GBV survivors

GENDER-based violence is caught between two worlds: one sees it as a crime, the other as ‘convention’. The ...
Energy inflation
Updated 23 May, 2024

Energy inflation

The widening gap between the haves and have-nots is already tearing apart Pakistan’s social fabric.
Culture of violence
23 May, 2024

Culture of violence

WHILE political differences are part of the democratic process, there can be no justification for such disagreements...
Flooding threats
23 May, 2024

Flooding threats

WITH temperatures in GB and KP forecasted to be four to six degrees higher than normal this week, the threat of...