GUJRAT: Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) leader Pir Afzal Qadri was admitted to Rawalpindi’s Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC) on Sunday after complaining of chest pain.

Later, according to unconfirmed reports, he was shifted to Lahore’s Camp Jail after his check-up at AFIC.

The senior TLP leader had been incarcerated in Central Jail, Gujranwala over treason charges after he was arrested by Gujrat police in November.

Sources in the prisons department told Dawn that Qadri was shifted to the Rawalpindi hospital from jail under tight security of Elite Police commandos, headed by a Gujrat deputy superintendent of police, and was provided emergency treatment for at least three hours.

He was taken to the radiology department for further diagnostics and underwent various tests, including a CT scan, chest X-ray and an ultrasound, they added.

After the medical examination, the sources said, he was shifted to the medical care unit of the hospital and later in the day the authorities moved him to Lahore’s Camp Jail. While in Rawalpindi, RA Bazaar, Race Course and Cantt police were deployed for the security of the TLP leader.

The sources in Gujranwala jail said that Qadri would regularly take heart medicines.

Regarding reports of Qadri being taken to Lahore, Gujranwala Central Jail Superintendent Chaudhry Asghar Ali said he was unaware of where the TLP leader had been shifted after his check-up, as the jail authorities had handed over his custody to police for taking him to Rawalpindi.

Similarly, Qadri’s son, Usman Afzal Qadri, also expressed ignorance about the whereabouts of his father after being discharged from Rawalpindi’s AFIC. He added that Mr Qadri’s medical reports were still awaited.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2018

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