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Today's Paper | May 06, 2024

Published 03 Feb, 2012 12:06am

Police want custody of anthrax

ISLAMAABD, Feb 2: The Secretariat police have requested their seniors to approach the Prime Minister Secretariat for obtaining the powder received in a packet addressed to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, sources told Dawn.

The sources said though the PM Secretariat had sent the report of Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) to the police declaring the powder as anthrax, the investigators were trying to follow the police procedure to get the powder verified.

A police officer told Dawn on condition of anonymity that the investigators did not challenge the report of the PCSIR or the claim of the secretariat but wanted to complete their due process.

He added that a secretariat official had disclosed that a female assistant professor in Jamshoro, Sindh, was behind sending the packet to the prime minister. He said the investigators through their seniors had requested the secretariat to give the details, including the reason for accusing the woman of sending the packet.

Moreover, the secretariat was also requested to give all the available evidences to the investigators.

He said it was under investigation how the parcel was cleared from the General Post Office (GPO) in Islamabad despite deployment of intelligence personnel there to check consignments addressed to VIPs.

The sources said a four-member team under the supervision of an inspector had been constituted which would leave for Jamshoro after getting permission from the senior superintendent of police Islamabad.

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