Imran’s sister Noreen falls into underground sewer in Rawalpindi

Noreen Niazi, sister of former prime minister Imran Khan, was injured on Tuesday after falling into a sub-structure drain while on her way to a scheduled family visit in Adiala jail.

Access to Imran has been a point of contention in recent weeks, as scheduled meetings with his family on Tuesday and Thursday have been repeatedly blocked. Despite these setbacks, family members continue their efforts to meet the imprisoned leader.

Niazi, along with other Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, was at Dahgal Naka trying to meet the jailed PTI founder when they were stopped by the police at a check point.

When they tried to cross the construction site on foot, Niazi lost his balance and fell into a drain constructed as part of a sewer line on Adiala Road. She was rescued from the drain and taken to a safe place.

Another woman, identified as Sadaf, also fell into the drain and sustained serious injuries. Sadaf was later transferred to a government hospital for immediate treatment.

Read more: Khosa raises concerns about Imran’s health

Imran has been held in Adiala prison since August 2023 following a series of convictions and trials that followed his ouster from power in 2022. He was first arrested in August 2023 and sentenced to prison on corruption-related charges, and has since faced numerous sentences, including a 17-year sentence in the Toshakhana case and a 14-year sentence for corruption. The Al-Qadir Trust case, which both he and his party say is politically motivated.

Imran was brought to PIMS for follow-up eye treatment ie. second dose of anti-VEGF intravitreal injection in the wee hours of Tuesday.

Prior to the operation, he was examined by a board of specialist doctors, which included a senior cardiologist who also performed echocardiography and an EKG.

Last week, a medical board that examined him reported an improvement in his vision and recommended against transferring him to a hospital. According to hissing medical report, obtained by Express Pakinomisthis right eye vision has improved from 6/36 to 6/9, while his left eye maintains 6/6 vision when using glasses. The assessment was carried out by Dr. Nadeem Qureshi and Dr. Arif after a detailed investigation in Adiala Jail.

Read also: Imran agreed to apologize on 9 May

According to Imran’s medical report, the anterior segment of both eyes was normal and the cornea was clear. It noted mild intragel hemorrhage at the edge of the right eye and moderate retinal hemorrhage in all four quadrants.

The macular swelling in the right eye was decreasing, with the macular thickness reduced from 550 to 350 microns. The board outlined ongoing medication and treatment and recommended OCT angiography and fundus fluorescein angiography after completion of anti-VEGF therapy, the report added, while no recommendation was made for Imran’s transfer to a hospital.