ISLAMABAD: Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Chairman Zafar Hijazi was shifted to a coronary care unit (CCU) at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), where he would be treated for acute coronary syndrome.
Zafar Hijazi was sent on a remand to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for four days by a judicial magistrate in Islamabad on Saturday. However, instead of giving him into the custody of the FIA for further investigation, he was driven straightaway to the PIMS owing to deteriorating health condition, after his appearance before the court.
A five-member medical board was formed to examine his health condition. The medical board consisted of Dr Sahjee Ahmed Sadiqui, Dr Sohail Tanveer, Dr Muhammad Naeem Malik, Dr Sajid Mutaz Qazi, Dr Faisal Kakar. The medical board, in its report, recommended that the SECP chairman has to be admitted due to his poor health condition.
According to the medical report prepared the medical board, a copy of which is available with Pakistan Today, “The patient complained of central chest discomfort in the morning which was relieved with S/L Angised.”
“Later patient under went Exercise Tolerance Test (ETT) with modified Bruce protocol which came out to be positive for Ischemia,” the report reads.
In the light of positive ETT and ongoing chest pain, the patient is being shifted to CCU to be treated for acute coronary syndrome. He is advised to have coronary angiography.
The report reads that since the patient is under a lot of mental stress and suggested his psychiatric evaluation. Earlier, Dr Faisal Kakar, while briefing the media, said that the SECP chairman complained of chest pain and having some breathing problems.
Earlier, Dr Faisal Kakar, while briefing the media, said that the SECP chairman complained of chest pain and having some breathing problems. He said that Zafar was advised angiography, as he had some cardiac problems too, adding that some of his tests would be conducted at NORI hospital. However, he did not give exact timing of conducting the other tests.
He said that there is no pressure on the board members from any quarter, adding that they did not allow anyone for interrogating him because of his critical health condition.
Zafar was shifted to the same room where he spent last night. Hijazi was taken from the court in an ambulance.
It is pertinent to mention here that Hijazi had been taken into custody Friday after his interim bail expired.
A case was registered on the orders of the Supreme Court after the three-member Panama case implementation bench acted on a report prepared by a joint investigation team (JIT) probing the Sharif family’s financial history.
The JIT report had alleged that the SECP chairman had altered records related to the Sharif family owned Chaudhry Sugar Mills.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) expressed concerns over the formation of a special board of doctors for Zafar Hijazi.
PTI leader Babar Awan said that all-out efforts are being made to protect Hijazi from the investigation.
He said that the formation of the medical board comprises handpicked members and removing the doctors who were initially examining his health condition raised eyebrows.
He said that soon other actors like Zafar Hijazi who helped Nawaz Sharif and Ishaq Dar in plundering national wealth will be behind bars.