A lifetime of courage: ‘The lion’ finally falls on the eighth attempt on his life
"His work was everything to him. Shafiq never had time for us but since his suspension, he was always at home with us," Shafiq Tanoli’s wife, Seemi. PHOTO: SINDH POLICE
It was on the eighth attempt that death finally managed to claim police officer Shafiq Tanoli.
Maybe this was the reason that the women of his house were calm and composed. Though evidently sad and teary-eyed, they had been somewhat mentally prepared to see the day when he would be no more.
“He was a lion! A lion!” exclaimed his wife, Seemi. She was surrounded by other grieving women at their house behind Old Sabzi Mandi. “He made us all strong.”
The police officer was killed in a suicide attack on Thursday which claimed the lives of three others, including his uncle and cousin. The attack occurred at his cousin’s tailoring shop, where the suicide bomber entered and blew himself up.
Tanoli had joined the police force in 1989. During his service, he made enemies with many criminals affiliated with political parties, Lyari gangsters and militant groups.
His day started with an early rise, after which he would breakfast with the parathas his wife made especially for him. The daughter would hand him his perfume and handkerchief. The son would bid him goodbye.
For the last two weeks since his suspension from the post of Mawach Goth SHO, Tanoli had restricted himself to his home. His wife remembers the past few days as the best days of her life. “His work was everything to him,” she said. “Shafiq never had time for us but since his suspension, he was always at home with us.”
The slain police officer who had last been targeted in December 2013 had not completely recovered from the deadly blast. According to the family, he had undergone a facial surgery two days ago.
The women expressed their anger regarding Tanoli’s recent suspension, demotion and the complaints against him. “He was such a brave man,” remarked one of the relatives. “He would always lead the police teams and catch terrorists. When the department no longer had use for him, they termed him useless and discarded him.”
Another woman angrily claimed that whatever Tanoli was earning under the table, he was passing on a significant amount to his seniors. “Ask those senior officers how much they were demanding from Shafiq.” With the blast site not far from the house, the family also questioned some of the police officers, who had been appointed for their security, were deployed elsewhere around 15 days ago.
Rasheed, brother of the slain Tanoli, said that he had lost another brother to criminals. “Naveed was killed the very same day Shafiq arrested Wali Babar’s killers,” he said. “And today, they got Shafiq. Will the police wake up and arrest my brothers’ murderers?”
Chaudhry Aslam, Tanoli both meet their deaths in PIB
The two renowned cops of Karachi Police, SP Chaudhry Aslam Khan and Shafiq Tanoli, may not have worked together but their way of living and working was so similar that they even lost their lives in a similar manner and in the same area of the city.
PIB Colony police station of the District East proved deadly for them as the two lost their lives in bombings within the same jurisdiction. Chaudhry Aslam was attacked within the remits of PIB Colony police station twice and it was the second attempt, that eventually took away his life. Similarly, Tanoli was also attacked in the same area once before and the second attack proved fatal.
The two officers had a similar way of working and is, perhaps, the reason why they worked separately. The two spared no one when it came to doing their job - from street criminals and drug peddlers to gangsters, political activists, gangsters and militants. They both had received serious threats from militants. The two were also believed to be involved in controversial extrajudicial killings.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 25th, 2014.