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Dr. Chunni Lal is the head of the psychiatric department at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) in Karachi. His name emerged in the media following the tragic Karsaz road accident, in which Natasha Danish, wife of prominent businessman Danish Iqbal, was involved in the deaths of Amina Arif and her father.
Dr. Lal has been praised on social media for his supposed bold stance on Natasha Danish’s mental health. However, reports suggest a different story.
Senior crime reporter Mushtaq Sarki revealed that Dr. Chunni Lal allegedly received a substantial bribe from Natasha’s family to declare her mentally unfit, potentially allowing her to avoid punishment for the accident.
In a podcast with MM News, Sarki claimed that Dr. Lal labeled Natasha as mentally ill on the first day she was admitted to JPMC and subsequently shared this information with the media. However, after Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, daughter of President Asif Ali Zardari and sister of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, tweeted about the Karsaz accident, Dr. Lal reversed his position. He later issued a written report stating that Natasha was mentally fit and had no history of mental health issues.
On August 20, Dr. Lal admitted Natasha to JPMC and prevented the police from presenting her in court, citing her mental health status. However, following Bakhtawar’s tweet on August 21, the Sindh government took action. Later that day, Dr. Lal changed his report, declaring Natasha mentally fit and without prior mental health issues, contradicting his earlier statements. Consequently, Natasha was presented in district court, where the judge remanded her to jail.
In the podcast, Sarki also alleged that Natasha’s husband, Danish Iqbal, her siblings, and friends used substantial bribes to facilitate her case. “They even provided blank bank cheques to those involved to help the accused,” he claimed. “Natasha’s family had a van full of money, which they used extensively to avoid legal repercussions,” he added.
Sarki also noted that Natasha received VIP treatment in police custody, at the hospital, and now in the women’s jail.
