TOBA TEK SINGH, May 9: Dozens of patients in state-run and private hospitals are suffering from dysentery and many have been seen vomiting, belying the claim of health department and MSs of DHQ and THQ hospitals that there was no sign of outbreak of gastro diseases in the district.

In Gojra alone, more than 200 patients are reportedly admitted to the THQ hospital and private clinics.

When contacted, health (EDO) Dr Masood Iqbal Bukhari claimed that the district had no gastro patients, as only abdominal diseases were reported due to polluted drinking water.

He said that the infection in intestines triggered vomiting and dysentery while the people wrongly related it to gastro ailments. It was in fact the result of a viral disease, he said.

Dr Bukhari said that all necessary arrangements had already been made at the DHQ and other hospitals to cope with the gastro diseases in the event of their outbreak.

EX-SSP CHIEF: A heavy police contingent besieged Jamia Farooqia Mosque in Kamalia to arrest former Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan chief Maulana Muhammad Ahmad Ludhianvi when he was going to deliver a speech during the Friday congregation.

Knowing about the situation, the Maulana contacted Kamalia DSP Akbar Niazi who told him that the police had to arrest him in an old case registered under 13-MPO.

The police left the place when Maulana Ludhianvi provided the DSP proof that the case against him had already been discharged.

STRIKE: The ad hoc staff of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited continued a pen-down strike here on Friday.

They also staged a sit-in outside the office of the divisional engineer.