KARACHI, Sept 23: Over 100 policemen fell ill after having dinner at the mess of the Razzaqabad police training college on Sunday night.

But Additional Inspector General of Karachi police Iqbal Mehmood said that about 40 men had fallen ill after consuming stale food.

“No death has been reported,” he added.

The policemen were initially taken to nearby 100-bed Hospital and then to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

The city police chief ordered an inquiry into reports of stale food served in the college mess and appointed the DIG (training and inspection) to look into the matter.

“The college has an elaborate mess and gets reasonable funds specifically for it,” sources in the police department told Dawn.

About 1,700 policemen are getting training at the college which has been without a principal or vice-principal for three to four months. The college is being run on an ad hoc basis by an SSP, the sources said.

In what appeared to be a damage control exercise, Sindh IG Fayyaz Leghari told media personnel late in the night that 10 to 15 policemen had fallen ill after taking dinner at the mess. He said the college’s kitchen had been sealed.