Attack on polio worker: ‘No personal enmity, polio team threatened before’

Police say worker was targeted for personal reasons, FIR registered against four suspects

SUKKUR:

Police insisted on Thursday that the attack on the female polio worker by armed assailants in Korejo village in Shikarpur on Wednesday was the outcome of an old enmity even though the victim denied this.

The case of the injured polio worker, Afshan wife of Mehtab Mahar, was registered at Garhi Yasin police station in Shikarpur on Wednesday evening on behalf of the state, instead of by the injured or her family. Afshan was attacked when she, along with her brother, had gone to Korejo village to administer polio drops to children.

The polio worker was shot and injured when four assailants on motorcycles opened fire at them on their way back from the village.

Initially, the police and the district administration tried to hush up the incident but, after the shooting was reported on the media, they claimed that she was targeted due to her personal enmity.



Garhi Yasin police station SHO Mohammad Hajan Gadani went to the injured worker's house and tried to convince her family to register an FIR with these allegations but they refused to do so, said an official.

Lack of security

Talking to The Express Tribune over the phone, Afshan, who is currently admitted in Civil Hospital, Larkana, blamed the district administration, health authorities and the police of trying to paint the incident as an old enmity. She said that the polio workers visit far flung areas to administer polio drops to the children without any security. Her brother accompanies her due to security reasons, she said, adding that it is the responsibility of the district administration to arrange security for the workers.

Afshan believes that the authorities are trying to hush up the case, due to which an FIR has been registered on behalf of the state without taking her into confidence. "We are performing our duty amid security threats in such areas," she said, adding that the health workers are endeavouring to make the country polio free and in return are getting bullets.

Her brother, Zaheer Mahar, said that the assailants attacked them with the aim to stop her sister and other polio workers from performing their duties. Zaheer added that after his sister was shifted to the hospital, the police called him to the police station to identify the culprits. He identified one of the suspects, whose name, according to the police, was Khuda Bux Marfani. Zaheer said he had never seen the suspect before the attack.

The SHO said that the FIR was registered against four accused, including Khuda Bux, Dumsaz Marfani and two unidentified men. The police arrested Khuda Bux and seized a TT pistol from him, while the other three have yet to be arrested. The SHO claimed that Zaheer's family was having enmity with Marfanis.

However, Garhi Yasin taluka polio drive union council incharge Dr Jawaid admitted that the incident took place during the polio drive and it should be treated like this. He added that to avoid such incidents in the future, he has asked the authorities to provide security to the polio teams.

On the other hand, Shikarpur focal person Dr Aftab Memon claimed that the incident was due to the worker's old enmity and denied about receiving any complaints regarding threats to the polio workers.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2016.