VEHARI, Oct 4: A large stock of medicines, including life-saving drugs, has been stolen from the District Headquarters Hospital storehouse. This is the third incident of medicines’ theft in the hospital during the last one year and a former employee has confessed to committing the crime on all occasions.

The hospital management says it had stored donated medicines worth Rs50,000 which have been taken away by Sajid, a former DHQ hospital employee who now privately runs a dispensary.

According to medical superintendent Dr Nasir Dilshad, Sajid has stolen the medicines after three attempts of cutting the iron bars of the store and sold these to a medical store nearby.

The hospital officials have traced the dispenser and handed him over to the Danyal police which let him off the hook on the intervention of a ruling party MPA. On his subsequent contact with Saddar police DSP Malik Rafique, he says, the police re-arrested him and registered a case.

A source contends the dispenser had made off with a huge quantity of medicines but the Danyal police had mentioned in the FIR that medicines worth a few thousand rupees had been stolen.

The MS further says some of the medicines have been recovered from a medical store which has purchased the stock from Sajid who was an employee of the DHQ hospital a few years ago and now practices in Thingi Colony as a private practitioner.

When contacted, the police denied releasing the suspect and said appropriate action would be taken against him.