KARACHI: A parliamentary committee formed to oversee the Sindh Food Authority is expected to meet on Wednesday to advance investigation into the recent deaths of two children allegedly due to food poisoning after they ate out at a local restaurant.
Two siblings, 18-month-old Ahmed and Muhammad, 5, died from a suspected case of food poisoning on November 11, after dining out with their mother at a local eatery the previous night. The incident triggered a police investigation into the case, and resulted in the sealing of the restaurant in question.
On Tuesday, Sindh Assembly speaker Agha Siraj Durrani constituted a three-member committee to oversee the Sindh Food Authority. The committee comprises Sohrab Sarki, Sanjay Perwani, and Ghanwer Ali Khan Isran, and has been tasked to work towards improving the authority and its processes.
The committee has reportedly prepared a questionnaire and will record statements from the relatives of the affected family. So far, no conflict has been found in the statements taken from the children’s mother and their driver.
Sindh Food Authority finds expired meat at the restaurant
Earlier on Tuesday, during a raid on a tip-off, the Sindh Food Authority recovered expired meat from the eatery in question, located in the upscale Zamzama neighbourhood of Karachi.
The authority found meat that had expired in as far back as 2015, and was said to have a rotting stench to it. Sindh Food Authority Director Abrar Sheikh told the media that the eatery’s management had earlier failed to disclose the existence of the godown where the expired meat was found.
“The meat was rotten and stinking, and we have removed it from the scene. It will be discarded because, otherwise, it is likely to cause and spread diseases,” Sheikh said.
Upon arrival at the restaurant, officials of the Sindh Food Authority found that the restaurant’s supplies were being moved secretly.
A young man, said to be transferring the expired meat, was taken into custody for questioning.
Karachi Police files FIR on Tuesday
Karachi Police on Tuesday registered the first information report (FIR) against the killing of two minor brothers due to allegedly eating unhealthy food from a local restaurant.
The case was registered at Sahil Police Station by the victims’ father in which Sections 272 and 322 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) were added.
On Sunday, the police had sealed an up-scale eatery after two minor siblings, a one-and-a-half-year-old and a five-year-old, died on Sunday afternoon of ‘food poisoning’.
Initial reports suggested that the family had dined out at Defence Housing Authority’s (DHA) Arizona Grill restaurant and also consumed candy from a shop outside Chunky Monkey amusement park located in Phase IV, DHA.
However, the mother-sons trio had fallen ill the next morning and were rushed to a hospital in a critical condition, said police. The mother, though out of danger, is still under treatment.
The father said he was doubtful that the cotton candy his late kids had eaten on the fateful night could be the reason for their death. “They had [it] at home too,” he stated.
Their maternal grandfather, on the other hand, said the minor boys had eaten from four different places and that it was now up to the police to take proper action and determine which food item caused the deaths.