Doctor fears for safety after home ransacked

Daniyal Nagi has his medical degree and passport under close guard. Photo / John Stone

Thieves have robbed Daniyal Nagi of everything he owns except his medical degree and passport which he has now stashed in his Whangarei Hospital office for fear they, too, will be stolen.

The Northland District Health Board is stepping up security in nine residential properties used by medical staff and doctors near the hospital and installing house alarms following the burglary.

The consultant physician, who has only been at Whangarei Hospital since February, has been left pondering his future in the city after thieves cleaned out his house and drove away with the booty in his car on Tuesday. The distressed father of four made a plea yesterday for the return of his black Toshiba laptop computer taken in the raid.

Stored on it are years of vital medical research along with irreplaceable family photos of his late father, Pakistani literary figure Anis Nagi.

"Money can be made again but the laptop is the most important. My research and dad's photos ... they are too valuable to me to lose. I want that laptop back," Dr Nagi said.

"It was a bit of a kick to me because I was not expecting this. If this was a Third World country it's acceptable but this is supposed to be a First World country with educated people. This is such a bad experience for me."

On Tuesday Dr Nagi left for work, walking the short distance from the health board-owned house in West End Ave to his office at the hospital. After a day's work as a gastroenterology consultant, he walked home to find his car stolen and his house ransacked.

It appeared thieves had used a bucket to stand on and then smashed a window at the back of the house. Inside, they packed up suitcases that had only just been unpacked from a holiday last week, with a laptop, iPad, cash, glasses, phone, medical papers, personal documents, scanner, printer and his expensive camera gear. A 40 inch television was also loaded into the car and driven off.

"Essentially they took everything. I didn't know what to do. I ran back up to the hospital security and they rang police."

The car was found in Collingwood St in Whangarei but there was no property recovered.

Dr Nagi had been working in Ireland for 15 years before moving to Whangarei Hospital in February. He was going to bring his wife and four children to Whangarei but he seriously doubts that is now an option.

"I think I will move because it's very unsafe here."