Poor labourer demands recovery of stolen money, other items

NOWSHERA: Unidentified thieves deprived a poor daily wager of the money he had collected for the surgery of his ailing son, sources said.

The labourer Muhammad Khan, son of Aziz Khan, a resident of Khourabad, Rashakai town, reported the incident at Risalpur Police Station.

The labourer said he worked in a marble factory. His son, Muhammad Sami, who is a 6th-grade student at the Government Higher Secondary School, was injured recently in a road accident while going to school.

Muhammad Khan said he rushed his son to the Mardan Medical Complex in Sheikh Maltoon Town where he was provided necessary treatment.

“The staff there told me that my son had suffered fractures to his leg and needed surgery. They, however, asked me my son will have to wait for at least 10 days for the surgery because the hospital was overburdened,” he recalled.

The poor labourer said his son was facing extreme pain. “That is why the hospital staff advised me to take the child to a private facility which I did. The staff at the private hospital demanded Rs60,000 for the surgery,” he recalled.

Muhammad Khan said he sought help from near and dear ones who gave him Rs70,000. “I returned home at night after collecting the money required for the surgery. I was asleep in the room when unidentified thieves sneaked into the home. They took away Rs70,000, a power battery and the bike (GAW 9470) of my nephew which I had used while raising the amount and had later parked it in my home at night,” he narrated.

The hapless labourer said he approached the Station House Officer of Risalpur, Ayub Khan and in-charge of the checkpost of Bara Banda, Azam Khan. He complained instead of registering the first information report the police noted the theft case in a mere roznamcha (daily diary). Muhammad Khan said he was very poor and relatives had offered him accommodation in his under-construction house.

He requested Inspector General of Police Naeem Khan, DIG Muhammad Ali Gandapur and district police officer of Nowshera to help arrest the culprits and recover the stolen money and items.

The labourer implored Health Minister Dr Hisham Inamullah Khan to order an inquiry as to why the government hospital staff at the Mardan Medical Complex did not treat his son in time.