CTD cop held after he wounds doctor at NICVD

An under-training cardiologist was seriously injured when a serving police official of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in plain clothes barged into the emergency room (ER) of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) Karachi and fired at least three bullets in his legs on the night between Wednesday and Thursday.

“An armed person, who was later identified as Police Constable Kamran, shot a young postgraduate trainee cardiologist Dr Fahad Abdul Hussain at the ER of the NICVD yesterday night. The injured doctor sustained three bullet injuries in his legs and he is currently under treatment at a private hospital in a stable condition,” Haider Awan, a senior official of the NICVD, told The News on Thursday. The assailant also fired at attendants of the patients who were present inside the hospital, Awan said, adding that the police constable also fired shots in the air before fleeing.

The suspect was later arrested by the CTD police, which handed him over to the Saddar police. Kamran reportedly confessed to firing inside the hospital.

Officials at the NICVD said they had adopted strict protocols to prevent the staff and patients from contracting COVID-19, due to which some untoward incidents were happening for last several weeks as people were not willing to follow the SOPs and instructions.

The NICVD administration said the suspect had also arrived at the ER of the cardiac-care facility a night earlier and tried to enter the emergency department without following the SOPs, which include wearing a mask. When he was asked to follow the SOPs, he made an uproar and threatened the staff with dire consequences.

Awan said that a cardiologist attended to the suspect that night. The police official asked him for some tranquiliser, saying that he had not slept for three days but the doctor refused to prescribe him any such medicine. “This infuriated the cop and he also threatened the doctor with dire consequences.”

On late Wednesday night, the cop in plain clothes entered the NICVD premises again, parked his motorcycle and entered the ER where he asked about the doctor who was on duty the previous night.

When he was told that the doctor was not there, he took out a handgun and fired four shots at the young postgraduate trainee cardiologist, three of which hit him in his legs.

“After injuring the doctor, the police official left the ER, fired more shots at people inside the building but luckily they all remained unhurt. He also fired shots in the air, took out his motorcycle and fled the hospital without any resistance,” the NICVD official said.

When asked why he was not stopped by the security staff at the NICVD, the official replied that the security personnel on duty have not been provided with arms, due to which the attacker managed to flee easily.

CTD Incharge Raja Umer Khattab said Kamran was a police constable of his department. “He has been arrested and handed over to the Saddar police, which have registered a case against him.”

According to the CTD incharge, the suspect was sick for the last two to three weeks and he was under treatment for typhoid. “On the other night, he went to the NICVD for chest pain and asked for a medicine as according to him, he had not slept for three nights. Next night, he went to the NICVD ER, asked for the doctor who had refused to prescribe him medicines and on his absence, he fired on another doctor thrice and escaped.”

Attack condemned

Condemning the incident, the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA) and Young Doctors Association (YDA) demanded of the authorities to ensure security for the doctors and paramedical staff at the health facilities, who were already under tremendous stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a news conference, PMA Secretary General Dr Qaiser Sajjad, Dr Mirza Ali Azhar and Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro said the doctors were treating the patients by putting their own life at risk during the pandemic.

They added that the doctors were under tremendous stress not only because of their work load but also the circumstances in which they had to perform their duties such as lack of security, scarcity of medicines and above all hostile attitude of patients’ attendants.

“Yesterday night, an armed police man fired shots at a doctor at the NICVD’s emergency room and injured him seriously. This situation is absolutely not acceptable to us,” Dr Sajjad said adding that they demanded a high-level inquiry into the incident and exemplary punishment for the perpetrator.

“We also demand of the Sindh government and our security agencies to take stern notice of this incident and make sure no such thing ever happen again in future,” he added.

PIMA Karachi President Dr Azeemuddin also condemned the firing incident at the NICVD and called for exemplary punishment for the assailant. He also demanded the treatment of the injured doctor at the state’s expense.