Extreme reactions: ‘Acid’ attack leaves 5 Mepco workers in hospital

Doctor and Mepco workers brawl over installation of electricity pole.

MULTAN: A local doctor was accused of throwing acid on five Multan electric power company (Mepco) workers after a minor dispute outside his office.

According to Dr Naveed Suleman and his wife Dr Mona Naveed ran a laboratory by the name Hussain Laboratories in Multan and Mepco officials had installed an electricity poll right outside their gates. “Our entire office was blocked and we couldn’t even reverse our cars in or out of the driveway,” Dr Suleman said.

The electricity pole was installed three days ago and Dr Suleman and his wife contacted the water and power development authority (Wapda) office to have the pole removed. “We spoke to the Wapda general manager Mehr Khan and he immediately halted work on the project,” they said. However, three days later, a group of Mepco workers began to work on the pole again and they blocked the doctors in their lab. When the couple protested there was a heated exchange between the Mepco workers and Dr Suleman.

The Mepco workers had brought in a large transformer and were installing it right outside the gate as locals gathered to witness the event. “I walked outside to stop them and told them that I had the Wapda GM on the phone,” Dr Suleman said, adding that the Mepco workers immediately said that they worked for the sub divisional officer (SDO) in Multan and did not recognise Wapda’s authority in these matters.

“We received our orders straight from the SDO office and when we refused to back down to the doctor he threw acid and my colleagues were severely injured,” one of the Mepco workers, Waqar said. Dr Suleman said that after the exchange between the workers and him got heated the Mepco officials had begun to insult his wife and were misbehaving. “I was carrying chemicals that I was testing with me and I threw it at them because they were about to attack me,” he said.

Doctors at Nishtar hospital admitted five Mepco workers with eye injuries and confirmed that they had not been attacked with acid but a very strong chemical. Locals said that the Mepco workers initially beat Dr Suleman with a belt and he threw the ‘acid’ at them in self defence.“The Mepco workers began to break windows of the laboratory and beat him up when he responded,” said an eye witness Junaid.  Dr Suleman said that he and his wife had personally set up the laboratory. “They damaged our life’s work and I have no shame that I tried to defend the office,” he said, during a press conference on Saturday evening.

Violent protests by Mepco workers have followed the incident and while police officials initially said that they had no intention of arresting Dr Suleman they eventually took him into custody and filed an FIR against him. Superintendent police Saeed Raza said “we spoke to dozens of people who had witnessed the incident and they said that he was not at fault but the protests began to escalate so much that we were under immense pressure to remove him from the scene.”

Dr Mona Naveed said that she had been receiving death threats from Mepco workers and has requested the prime minister and chief justice to take notice of the incident.

Hospital officials have said that the five injured Mepco workers and one bystander are currently receiving treatment at the hospital and will be released soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th, 2010.