Sindh Inspector General (IG) of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon on Wednesday said that the medical report of Natasha Danish, the driver booked in the case of the deadly Karachi traffic accident last week, shows she was under the influence of the narcotic methamphetamine (crystal meth).
On August 19, a speeding Toyota Land Cruiser, driven by Danish, hit three motorcycles and another car before overturning on the city’s Karsaz Road. Sixty-year-old Imran Arif and his 22-year-old daughter Amna were killed in the accident, while three others were wounded.
The driver was arrested and booked for manslaughter charges. In a court hearing on Aug 21, a counsel of the victim had called for a probe into the “kind of drug” that the suspect was allegedly under the influence of at the time of the accident. The court had subsequently sent Danish on a 14-day judicial remand.
IG Memon had previously said that the report of the driver’s blood test was expected soon, and in light of the medical reports, more sections would be added to the first information report (FIR) to guide the future course of action related to the probe.
Talking to Dawn.com today, IG Memon said the medical examiner’s office for the Sindh Government Services Hospital issued the medical reports of the driver.
“The medical report confirms that she was under the influence of the drug methamphetamine,” he told Dawn.com.
The report has not yet been made public.
Earlier in the day, Karachi Additional IG (AIG) Javed Odho also said that there was “something” in the medical report based on which he could say that the driver should not have been in the speeding vehicle.
In a brief exchange with a reporter, the Karachi police chief addressed media reports regarding the issuance of the driver’s medical report, stating that the investigation was still ongoing.
“I did not want to talk about it in a candid manner at this moment,” AIG Odho said.
However, he added that “something” about the findings of the report suggested that Danish should not have been driving the vehicle. He said investigators would approach medical authorities before reaching a “final conclusion” and seek opinions from medical experts.
The FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, was filed at the Bahadurabad police station on the complaint of Imtiaz Arif, whose brother and niece died in the accident.
The FIR invoked sections 320 (punishment for qatl-i-khata by rash or negligent driving), 337-G (punishment for hurt by rash or negligent driving), 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way), and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
According to the complaint, Arif was informed at around 6:45pm on Monday that his brother Imran Arif, who was riding a motorcycle along with his daughter Amna Arif, was met with an accident.
Upon reaching the JPMC, the complainant found out that the suspect, who was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser, had hit his brother’s motorcycle from behind.
“Abdussalam, son of Mohammad Ishaq, who was riding on the motorcycle was also injured,” the FIR stated, adding that Imran and his daughter got several injuries and passed away later.
