A huge loss: Senior lawyer’s death in Mardan attack leaves vacuum

Family, colleagues mourn Saeed Akbar Khan’s demise

PESHAWAR: A senior lawyer, Saeed Akbar Khan, was among those slain in the suicide attack on the Mardan district courts on September 2 which claimed the lives of 15 people and left over 50 injured. He was among four members of the legal fraternity who lost their lives on that day.

He was 42 years old and belonged to Sheikhan village in Mardan. Saeed Akbar was buried on Friday in his ancestral graveyard.

The senior lawyer belonged to the Mohmand tribe and is survived by two sons and three daughters. He completed his LLB from University of Peshawar and was a senior member of the Mardan legal fraternity. He had several high-level cases to his name.

One of his relatives, Muhammad Sajjad Khan said the lawyer led a simple life despite being affluent. Mardan district nazim Himayatullah Mayar said ANP lost a brave soul. He said Saeed Akbar’s death was a great loss as it has created a huge vacuum in the party.

Akbar Ali, the cousin of Saeed Akbar, said his death was a great loss for the family because he was not only a good father, but a teacher for the whole village.

Ali shared that when Saeed Akbar was going to court on Friday morning, he met him and said there was some urgent business that needed his attention. The lawyer said he would return in an hour. “I was unaware that these words were to be his last to me,” he said, unable to hold back the emotion. He said the blast occurred 10 minutes after Saeed Akbar’s arrival at the courthouse.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2016.