Bad move: Drug controller in hot waters

He had demanded bribes from a factory owner

BAHAWALPUR: The Anti-Corruption Department has registered a case against the Bahawalpur drug controller and Bahawalpur Saddar, Ahmadpur East and Hasilpur drug inspectors for sealing a factory after the owner refused to pay them a bribe.

Department officials said that Syed Hassan Raza owned a calcium and vitamin C sachets manufacturing factory in Muhajir Colony, Baghdad Road, Bahawalpur. They said Bahawalpur Drug Controller Abid Zain used to take a bribe from Raza each month. The factory owner had paid him the bribe for several months but refused to pay him a bribe this month, they said.

Last week, the drug controller, some cops stationed at the Baghdad check post, Bahawalpur Saddar Drug Inspector Asrar Niazi,  Ahmadpur East Drug Inspector Faisal Hussain and Hasilpur Road Drug Inspector Imran Zafar conducted a raid at Raza’s factory and seized a sizeable quantity of ingredients and 81 cartons of calcium and vitamin C sachets. They said that Raza had not mentioned the exact quantity of material seized in his report.

The police arrested Raza’s driver Safeer Mehdi, sealed the factory and registered a case against Raza.

Raza petitioned the court to dismiss the FIR. The court heard arguments from both sides and issued the police directions to dismiss the FIR and to declare that the calcium and vitamin C sachets were manufactured at the factory in accordance with the rules laid out in the Drug Act. The court declared that Drug Controller Abid Zain did not have the authority to raid and seal the factory. Furthermore, he had misused his powers in arresting the owner’s driver, the court declared in its order.

After the FIR was dismissed, Raza filed a complaint against Zain and other drug inspectors with the Anti-Corruption Department which registered a case against them.

Crackdown on spurious drugs

MPA Qazi Adnan Farid, the south Punjab task force for anti-adulteration committee on medicine chairman, called on health officials on Tuesday and asked them to launch a strict crack-down against manufacturers and sellers of spurious medicines.

He also told them to take strict action against quacks. “Those involved in endangering lives will have to pay,” he said.

The lawmaker was presiding over a video-link conference at the Bahawalpur commissioner’s office.

Bahawalpur Commissioner Saqib Zafar, Bahawalpur DCO Ehtisham Anwar Mahaar, Additional Commissioner Saqib Ali Ateel, Health EDO Shahid Khaliq, drug inspectors, Rahim Yar Khan DCO Zafar Mahmood and the Bahawalnagar additional district collector attended the meeting.

Commissioner Saqib Zafar told health, administration and police officials to coordinate a massive crackdown against unregistered manufacturers of allopathic, homeopathic and herbal medicines and unregistered clinics in Bahawalpur division. He told them to divide tehsils into sub sectors and make union councils the focal point for their crackdown.

The participants of the meeting were told that drug inspectors had sent 1,242 samples of various medicines to the drug testing laboratory and had fined violators Rs9.8 million.

Drug Authority officials said they had sealed 299 medical stores and had submitted 385 cases to the drug quality control board. Police said 36 FIRs had been registered against violators in Bahawalpur.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2016.