Under ‘stress’: DIG Khattak hospitalised after cardiac arrest

ISLAMABAD:

Deputy Inspector General of Islamabad Police Khalid Khattak has been admitted in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) after suffering from a cardiac arrest on Wednesday.

According to Dr Ayesha Ishani, spokesperson for the hospital, he was brought to the hospital in the evening with severe chest pain and has undergone an angioplasty and angiography after which he was admitted.

It was the police officer’s first cardiac arrest and his condition is stable, said Ihsani, adding that he will remain admitted in the hospital for the next 24 to 48 hours.

According to a police official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the DIG experienced chest pain after he was given orders to launch a crackdown on protesters on Constitution Avenue.

He was already under stress due to the prevailing protests and political situation for the last couple of days and was also suffering from lack of sleep.

Khattak was appointed acting Inspector General of Police after Aftab Ahmad Cheema was removed from the post by the government amid a controversy over the use of force on protesters at the Red Zone. Khattak only remained the capital’s top cop for a few days, till he was relieved of the temporary charge by another officer, DIG Tahir Alam.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2014.