PSX attack: The heroes who wrote a new chapter of bravery

KARACHI:

The police and private security guards on Monday wrote a new chapter of bravery and devotion to the duty in the already rich history of selfless sacrifices offered by the country in the fight against terrorism, when they fought off and killed four terrorists at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).

Four terrorists attacked the PSX on Monday morning and tried to force their way through a gun and bomb assault. However, in the acts of heroism, the policemen and private security guards put up a fight and killed all the assailants before they could enter the building.

One policeman and three guards were martyred and seven others, including three policemen, were injured in the attack. The deceased were identified as Sub-Inspector Muhammad Shahid and security guards Muhammad Hassan, Khuda-e-Yar and Iftikhar Wahid.

However, the day belonged to two young policemen, Rafique Soomro and Khalil Jatoi, who shot the attackers dead. Soomro, 23, shot two attackers in the head within minutes of the assault and helped his colleagues to get to safety. Khalil Jatoi killed the third terrorist.

Soomro along with his two other colleagues was deployed at the main gate from where the terrorists entered and shot dead a security guard. Two of Soomro’s colleagues were injured within the first two minutes of the attack.

Soomro shot dead the first terrorist who crossed the main barrier. “I asked my injured fellows to leave the spot or they will kill us all,” Soomro told The Express Tribune. He also hit another terrorist within minutes, while taking care of his injured friends as well.

Jatoi who hit the third terrorist, said that he hit the attacker when he was heading towards the building. “I shot him in his head when he was moving and looking at another side,” he told The Express Tribune. The fourth attacker was shot dead by their colleagues in the exchange of fire.

Hailing from a remote area of Sindh, Soomro was appointed during the tenure of Sindh police chief AD Khawaja. “He is the first person of his family who joined the police force,” a near relative told The Express Tribune. “It is a proud movement for all family members,” Soomro’s elder brother Muhammad Yousuf. “He bravely fought and fought for the country.”

The security guards who laid down their lives in line of duty, were mostly elderly and were close to the retirement, but fate did not gave them that luxury. One of the martyred guards, Iftikhar Wahid was to retire two days later.

Hassan, 60, was the father of 8 children – 4 daughters and 4 sons. His son Shakil Hassan told the Express Tribune that his father was repeatedly asked by the family to quit his job but he always refused. Both Hassan and his sister were laid to rest in Mewa Shah cemetery.

The late security guard, Muhammad Hassan, was a resident of Lyari. The news of his martyrdom reached the family when they were already in mourning over the death of Hassan’s sister who breather her last on Monday morning.

Wahid’s son Azzaz told BBC that he father was due to retire on July 1 and was planning to move to his hometown of Dir in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to find work there, but the accident happened before then.

Meanwhile, the funeral prayers of martyred Sub-Inspector Muhammad Shahid were offered at the Police Headquarters in Garden area, according to a Sindh Police spokesperson.

The funeral prayers were attended by Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani, Sindh Police chief Mushtaq Ahmed Mehr and Additional IGP Karachi Ghulam Nabi Memon besides senior police and Rangers officers, family members, relatives, friends and neighbours of the martyred police officer.

Muhammad Tanveer, son of the late SI Shahid, told Express that his father was posted in the courts police, however, because of the virus pandemic, he was sent to the Mithadar police station for security, and posted outside the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

He said his father was about to retire. “He often said that he would get his son hired in the police,” Tanveer said. The martyred police officer left behind 3 sons and one daughters, all residents of Lyari.

Suleiman Mehdi, chairman of the Pakistan Stock Board, said the terrorist attack had been foiled because of the security arrangements at the building, in which his bodyguards, along with the forces, played a key role.

While talking to The Express Tribune, the family members of the police officer and security guards paid rich tributes to the martyrs. They said they sacrificed their lives in the line of duty and thwarted the intentions of the terrorists.