Four days after the death of two minor brothers from suspected food poisoning, the police on Wednesday lodged an FIR on behalf of the children’s bereaved father.
Although a case has been registered, the deaths of 1.5-year-old Ahmed and five-year-old Muhammad still remain a mystery as the investigators are trying to determine the cause and samples collected from the boys have been sent for testing.
The FIR No. 206/18 under Sections 322 and 272/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code was registered on behalf of the deceased brothers’ father, Ahsan, at Sahil police station in District South. In the FIR, the complainant neither accused the restaurant and shop directly of providing poisonous edibles nor held them blameless. However, he did raise his doubts on them for providing toxic food or stuff.
According to Ahsan, he was in Lahore on a business tour when on November 11 his brother Subhan informed him via phone that he was taking Ahsan’s wife and sons to a hospital. “I returned from Lahore after getting news about my sons’ deaths,” said the complainant in his recorded statement.
He further stated that his wife told him that they went to a play land at Sea View, from where they bought sweets and chips, and then dined at a restaurant. However, later in the day, their condition became unstable. His wife also told him that Subhan had taken them to a hospital.
Ahsan suspected that “hazardous food” from the eateries caused his sons’ deaths and wife’s illness, and they should be investigated. After registering the case, Ahsan and a maternal uncle, Farooq, while talking to the media said that they were satisfied with the police investigation and were waiting for the medical reports to ascertain the actual cause of death.
The two minors died on Sunday afternoon from suspected food poisoning from dining at a restaurant in the Zamzama locality and consuming sweets from a shop outside an amusement park late on Saturday night. Investigators on Tuesday had delivered 36 samples to a Lahore laboratory for analysis. Police officials said that they were also investigating the case from different angles.