Police fail to trace stolen dialysis machines

Murree DHQ Hospital struggles to cater to mounting needs of kidney patients

RAWALPINDI:

Police have failed to recover the two dialysis machines that were stolen from the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital Murree 10 days back.

The Punjab government's three-member investigation committee has also failed to determine and fix responsibility.

In the absence of dialysis machines, patients suffering from kidney disease are facing serious problems with dialysis.

At least three dialysis machines have been stolen from the DHQ Hospital Murree in six months.

Murree district administration sources said that two dialysis machines were stolen from the urology department of the DHQ Hospital on the night of January 18. Despite the CCTV cameras, footage of the accused could not be captured.

Earlier, a dialysis machine was stolen from the DHQ Hospital in June last year, separate cases were registered in both incidents.

The sources said that of the total six dialysis machines at the DHQ Hospital Murree, three have been stolen. The DHQ Hospital used to perform dialysis on 150 patients every week, but after the machines were stolen, it was becoming increasingly difficult to cater to the patient load, the sources said adding that the three machines cannot bear the patient load.

The sources said that kidney patients were being referred to Islamabad and Rawalpindi for dialysis.

Murree police said that they were still investigating the theft of dialysis machines and the three-member investigation committee also visited the DHQ Hospital and recorded the statements of staff including the medical superintendent of the hospital.

Sources said that police and the Punjab government’s three-member committee were yet to reach any conclusion as the accused could not be traced yet.

On the other hand, a Murree police spokesman said that DPO Murree Faraz Ahmed was personally supervising the investigation of the case. He claimed that positive progress has been made in the police investigation.

He said that the police have found a clue and the accused will be traced and arrested soon.

The police spokesman said that soon the people of Murree will get good news and the stolen machines will be recovered.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2023.