Business & Finance

Peshawar police arrest man for asking children to pretend fainting due to polio drops

Peshawar Police arrested on Tuesday a man for sabotaging the anti-polio drive by asking children to pretend fainting
Published April 23, 2019 Updated April 23, 2019 09:31am

Peshawar Police arrested on Tuesday a man for sabotaging the anti-polio drive by asking children to pretend fainting, alleging that the polio drops got them sick.

In the video, the suspect Nazar alleges that administration of the vaccine caused children to fall unconscious. Turning to a group of boys, Nazar tells them to 'fall asleep'. Following the orders, the children then lie down on the hospital bed behind them as if they were unconscious.

When a boy gets up, Nazar tells him to lie back again, after which the boy lies down on the bed again.

Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Focal Person on Polio Eradication Babar bin Atta said in a tweet that the police had registered an FIR against 12 individuals who were behind the Peshawar polio drama.

On Monday, after the anti-polio campaign started in Peshawar, reports surfaced that several children had fallen sick allegedly after consuming anti-polio vaccine. The children were reported to be complaining of headaches, nausea and abdominal pain, who were taken to Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital. However, they were discharged after the doctors said that they were in stable condition.

However, family members and area residents strongly protested and set the Basic Health Unit in the area on fire. Expanded Program on Immunisation Coordinator Kamran Afridi said that the polio vaccine is the safest and was not expired.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019