Karachi renames street after Chaudhry Aslam on third death anniversary

KARACHI: Muhammad Aslam Khan aka Chaudhry Aslam the SP CID who was martyred in Karachi in 2014 was remembered by his friends, family and colleagues and the city administration which renamed the street outside his former office in his honour.

The street formerly known as Beaumont Road, where the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) office is located was renamed on Monday as Chaudhry Aslam Shaheed road in a ceremony that was attended by Aslam’s former colleagues Omar Shahid and Unit Chief’s of the CTD as well as AIG CTD, DIG South and others.

The plaque was unveiled by Aslam’s three sons, in memory of their father.

Chaudhry Aslam Shaheed

Muhammad Aslam Khan who was known to his friends and to his enemies as Chaudhy Aslam or Chaudhry Sahib hailed from Mansehra in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He joined the police force as an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) in 1984. Over the years he served as the Station House Officer (SHO) of various troubled police stations and continued to rise in the ranks.

He gained notoriety in the last years of his life after leading a successful operation against the Lyari gangsters and later as the poster boy in the fight against terrorism. Often referred to, as the lion of the Sindh police department, his mere presence on the field would rally the morale of his subordinates.

He survived a deadly attack on his residence in the posh Defence Housing Authority (DHA) in 2011 when militants rammed an explosive laden vehicle into his house, destroying the entire structure and the surrounding area. Luckily Aslam, his wife and children survived unscathed – but shaken.

In his notorious style, Aslam came out and addressed the media and spoke to his attackers, warning them that they had attacked the lion’s lair and he would not spare them nor their generations to follow.

Always dressed in his signature crisp white shalwar kameez (traditional Pakistani dress), the chain smoking Chaudhry Aslam had accepted his fate.

Riding in the front seat of his B6 armored cruiser, when asked if he felt safe, Aslam turned around and replied casually that when they come for him it would only take an extra 100 kilograms of explosives and the armored cruiser would not be able to protect him.

That fateful Thursday, as Chaudhry Aslam got ready to leave he received a call to report to the police chief’s office. It was the last journey he would embark on.

Chaudhary Aslam’s convoy was targeted as soon as it got on the Lyari Expressway near Essa Nagri.

According to the police report, 150-200 kilograms of explosives and chemicals were packed into a vehicle, which was detonated as soon as the convoy came within striking distance. “The blast was so powerful that the vehicle’s wreckage was thrown some 20 to 30 feet away from site of [the] explosion,” SP Muqadas Haider told Geo News back in 2014.

Even years later, the city of Karachi and the police force remember the martyred Muhammad Aslam Khan; with the renamed road future generations too will remember the man who could strike fear in the eyes of criminals - be it militants, gangsters, or otherwise.