CHARSADDA: The district administration on Friday sealed a private hospital after the staffers allegedly tortured a drug-addict youth to death and injured five others on Thursday night, and booked a doctor and his two sons for the offence.

The hospital set up in Tangi area for treatment of drug addicts is run by NGO Save the Life Foundation.

The deceased was identified as Waseem Jan of Sherpao area. The injured, namely Qeeyamuddin, Shafiq and Azmatullah of Dir, Siraj of Mohmand, and Mohibullah of Tangi, were taken to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Tangi.

Reacting to the incident, relatives of the deceased and the injured patients staged a protest demonstration against the hospital’s administration, and demanded sealing of the facility and registration of FIR against the accused.

The protesters said they paid huge amounts to the hospital for treatment of patients. They alleged the patients were tortured for protesting against unhygienic food served to them.

Taking notice of the protest, Tangi assistant commissioner Shehryar Khan sealed the hospital, and ordered registration of FIR against Dr Syed Akhtar, and his sons, Suhail and Fawad, on the complaint of the deceased patient’s father.

Separately, residents blocked the Tarnab Road to protest against the police and Rescue 1122 personnel for not taking a critically-injured rickshaw driver to hospital to save his life.

They said the poor driver, Mohammad Kamran, was injured when his three-wheeler was hit by a speeding vehicle of the excise police on the Tarnab Road. Two personnel of excise police were also injured. The police were reportedly chasing a suspected car.

The protesters said the Tarnab police and Rescue 1122 personnel took the injured excise personnel to hospital, but left the critically-injured rickshaw driver on the road, who later succumbed to injuries.

The protesters demanded termination of SHO Tarnab and registration of FIR against the excise police personnel.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2021