LAHORE, April 27: Health authorities have reportedly ‘dumped’ an inquiry report, which primarily found guilty four senior health managers of theft and embezzlement of government medicines.

Former health additional secretary (technical) and former Gujrat executive district officer for health are among the accused.

Similar incidents occurred in Lahore in 2011 when raiding teams recovered drugs from private hospitals and clinics that had been stolen from Mayo Hospital, Services Hospital and Jinnah Hospital. Six FIRs were registered against those involved in medicine theft, but no action was taken against them. Departmental probes also found the accused guilty, but inquiry reports met the same fate.

A source said it was too easy to steal or embezzle drugs form state-run hospitals and sell these in the market, but it was difficult to bring culprits to the court of law owing to their strong network.

The Punjab government had formed a three-member committee on June 25 to look into the allegations of theft and embezzlement of government medicines and their sale in Sialkot district.

Headed by former chief chemical examiner Dr Mubashir Attique Azhar, the committee had Jinnah Hospital senior pharmacist Abdul Haleem Khan and the health deputy secretary (budget and accounts) as its members. The source said the committee held four senior officials guilty and recommended action against them under the Punjab Employees Efficiency, Discipline and Accountability (PEEDA) Act in August 2011.

Primarily, the committee was tasked with identifying the worth of medicines embezzled and fixing responsibility on those involved. The source said the committee looked into the allegations, took into custody evidence and recorded statements of officials concerned.

The committee mentioned in its final report that the name of former health additional secretary (technical) Mushtaq Sulehria was displayed on the private clinic of his brother from where government medicines worth more than Rs20,000 were found. These medicines were meant for the patients of state-run hospitals.

It said in the report that during a visit to the EDO (health), the committee found that there was no record of official medicines worth Rs450,000.

Besides Dr Talat Iqbal, the committee held the then Gujrat district officer health and former Pasrur tehsil drug inspector responsible for embezzlement of these drugs.

The pre-provincial selection board committee recommended promotion of Dr Talat Iqbal along with two other senior doctors of the general cadre to grade 21 even after the inquiry committee found him guilty of medicine theft and recommended action against him.

Similarly, some inquiry reports are awaiting action against those involved in the theft of official medicines from three teaching hospitals of the Punjab capital.

An FIR (No 520/11) was lodged in Garhi Shahu police station on Sept 9, 2011, under sections 380, 413, 414, 420, 468 and 471 of the Pakistan Penal Code against suspected medicine thieves.

According to the FIR, MPA Khwaja Salman Rafique and DIG Mubasharullah raided a private hospital and medical stores and recovered a huge cache of drugs stolen from Services Hospital.

Another FIR (431/11) was registered in Bhati Gate Police Station on Sept 26, 2011 under sections 380, 411, 413 and 414 of the PPC when official drugs were recovered from a private hospital located near Main Bazaar, Bhati Gate. These drugs were stolen from Mayo and Services hospitals.

In another incident, Bhati Gate police arrested three people when they were selling medicines of government hospitals in the local market and lodged FIR (475/11) against them on Oct 18.

The third FIR (476/11) was lodged in the same police station in October when some people were found selling official drugs taken away from Services Hospital.

Two FIRs (477/11 and 478/11) were registered in the same police station against suspects who were arrested when they were selling drugs stolen from Services Hospital.

Special Health Secretary Dawood Bareach neither attended his cell phone nor responded to text messages for his comment on the report.