Heroics of police official saved many lives

Inspector Imran took out all the three terrorists one by one

PESHAWAR: The terrorists were loaded up. They methodically planned to kill everyone. Anyone. They were on a killing spree. A massacre, a bloodbath was feared at the Agriculture Training Institute on Friday. The fears weren’t unfounded. But the quick response and dauntless action of the police averted what might have been an orgy of killing. And the hero was Inspector Imran.

Three terrorists, clad in burqas and wearing suicide vests, entered the iconic British-era building of Agriculture Training Institute, close to Islamia College, on University Road on Friday morning. They shot dead the guard before targeting the student hostel. The police received the call at 8:35am.

“Within four to five minutes, a police contingent was inside the university,” recalled Inspector Imran, who was leading a team of the Special Counter Terrorism Force. Elite Force commandos, Rapid Response Units, army troops and SSG commandos were also there within no time.

The building was cordoned off. Nearby buildings were evacuated. An armoured personnel carrier (APC) broke a peripheral wall from the back side to evacuate the students and staff trapped inside.

Crackle of gunshots and small explosions could be heard from inside the building. First it was decided to deploy police snipers to take out the terrorists. The strategy didn’t work, though it caused the terrorists to panic.



“I told CCPO Tahir Khan sb, who was leading the operation, that we should enter the building without delay,” said Inspector Imran, who is also SHO of Rigi police station. “The CCPO agreed and I volunteered to enter the building,” he added. “We didn’t know how many terrorists were inside. It was difficult to tell terrorists from students and staff.”

The terrorists were wearing suicide vests. They were armed with AK-47 assault rifles and carried hand grenades and IEDs (home-made bombs).

“I knew shooting a suicide bomber other than the head means giving a chance to detonate his vest and cause casualties,” Inspector Imran. “I took out the first terrorist on the ground floor of the building after a brief firefight.”

The two other terrorists were hurling hand grenades and firing madly. “I fired back to keep them at bay. Soon I ran out of ammunition,” he said. “It was my lucky day. I grabbed the AK-47 and magazines of the dead terrorist and radioed to the police to send ammunition.”

A second terrorist threw a hand grenade, but Inspector Imran took cover and had a clean shot at him, killing him on the spot. Emboldened by his first two kills, he went after the third and took down after a brief chase. None of his victims could trigger his suicide vest. “I finished off the job within 30 minutes,” he added.

After all the terrorists had been taken out, Inspector Imran called in reinforcements to secure and sanitise the premises. Police and army troops then went from room to room to evacuate the students and staff trapped inside.



Inspector Imran, who joined the police force as constable in 2009, has been especially trained to fight terrorists. He was part of almost all major anti-terrorist operation in Peshawar – be that the airport attack or the raid on an Islamic State foxhole at a flour mills.

“I have been injured eight times in these encounters, receiving bullets to different parts of my body,” said an undeterred Inspector Imran. He said he was happy that he had eliminated those who killed students and planned to kill more.