Ziaullah Afridi hospitalised with throat complications

PESHAWAR: After being denied interim bail by the Peshawar High Court (PHC), former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf minister Ziaullah Afridi was admitted to the Lady Reading Hospital on Thursday for allegedly having some throat complications, the hospital spokesman confirmed to The News.
“Ziaullah Afridi was admitted to the medico legal ward of the hospital. He was stated to be having some throat problem,” Jamil Shah, the hospital spokesman, said.
Ziaullah Afridi, former minister for mineral development and PTI leader, has been in custody of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission on corruption charges for the past few months.
The court had granted an interim bail to him on August 24 but he was kept in the prison in two other cases of corruption.
Senior faculty members of the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) told The News that the hospital has become one the favourite places of medico legal cases.
According to them, most of the people including politicians, government officials and others, after their arrest by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Anti-Corruption department and now the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission, somehow manage and are hospitalised at the LRH.
“There are 10-beds, two MLC wards and two side rooms and currently the beds are occupied. There is no further space in the MLC ward,” a cardiologist of the hospital said. Pleading anonymity, he said some of the influential people had been staying there for the past many months due to their links and good terms with the doctors. “Some of the people staying here don’t need even a single tablet but they had occupied beds and don’t want to be sent to jail. For the powerful and influential people, this is the easiest way to get hospitlised to avoid either jail or interrogation by the relevant authorities,” the cardiologist explained.
Also, he said they had noticed a new trend as some of the government officials after fearing their arrest by the accountability authorities admit themselves in advance to evade their arrest. “The government and particularly NAB and Ehtesab Commission should take this issue seriously. These corrupt people come here and get themselves hospitalised through their connections with the doctors. All such people facing corruption charges should be taken to the Combined Military Hospital where a board of senior doctors should deal their cases,” he suggested.