Former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi was shifted on Thursday from Attock Jail to Kot Lakhpat Jail on medical grounds. "Abbasi has been shifted due to his bad health condition and lack of adequate medical facility in the Attock prison," said Punjab Inspector General (IG) Prisons Mirza Shahid Saleem Baig while talking to Business Recorder.
"After conducting medical examination of Abbasi, a jail doctor has sent a request to a panel of senior doctors from the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), Mayo and Services hospitals for his assistance and a thorough medical examination," he added.
Earlier, he said, Abbasi suffered from a heart ailment in Adiala Jail after which he was taken to a hospital and a stent was planted in his artery. "When Abbasi's condition did not improve after the procedure due to the unavailability of suitable medical facilities in the Attock Jail, it was decided to transfer the incarcerated PML-N leader to a Lahore jail," he maintained.
Responding to a question regarding political influence behind the transfer, the IG said: "Abbasi was purely shifted on medical grounds." When asked about Abbasi's expected stay in the Lahore jail, he said it will depend upon recommendations of the doctors. "Abbasi is a cancer patient as well," he revealed.
Last month, Abbasi was moved to Attock Jail following a controversy over his 'leaked' photo lounging with the party supremo Nawaz Sharif at Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail. The decision to shift Abbasi came on the request of a two-member committee constituted by the Punjab government to probe the 'photo leak' which also featured Maryam Nawaz and Captain (retd) Safdar sitting in the superintendent's office.
The Control of Narcotics Substances (CNS) had on July 20 handed life imprisonment to PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi in ephedrine case surfaced in March 2011. Abbasi was arrested when he was contesting elections against Awami Muslim League Chief Sheikh Rashid from NA-60 (Rawalpindi).