Chaudhary Aslam Khan Swati was a Pakistani

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

. From 2005 to 2014 Aslam arrested and killed terrorists, gangwar-criminals, target killers and extortionists belonging to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP),

Balochistan Liberation Army The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is a Baloch ethnonationalist militant organization based in the Balochistan region. Operating primarily from safe havens scattered across southern Afghanistan, BLA perpetrates attacks in neighboring Paki ...

(BLA), TMP, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ),

Lashkar-e-Taiba Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is a Pakistani Islamism, Islamist militant organization driven by a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist ideology. The organisation's primary stated objective is to merge the whole of Kashmir with Pakistan. It was founded in 19 ...

(LeT) and Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). On 9 January 2014, he was martyred in a bomb blast carried out by the TTP.

Early life

Aslam was born in 1963 to Advocate Akram Khan Swati in Village Council Arghushal of Union council Dhodial,

Mansehra District Mansehra District (Urdu, ) is a district in the Hazara Division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northern Pakistan. Mansehra city serves as the headquarters of the district. The district has a Hindkowan majority, with a significant Pashtun and Kohista ...

, Hazara Division and moved to

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

with his father after completing his primary education. He belonged to the Arghushal clan, a sub-clan of the Swati tribe.

Police career

Aslam joined the Sindh Police force in 1984 as an Assistant sub-inspector and served in several police stations across Karachi and in Balochistan due to provincial allocation. Aslam worked as an encounter specialist from 1992 to 1994 and 1996 to 1997. He was suspended then came back to service in 2004 and received the task of eradicating target killers. Later he was ordered to lead the LTF (Lyari Task Force) and end the gang war in Lyari Town. In 2010, Aslam was appointed as head of the Investigation Wing in the Criminal Investigation Department. Aslam won himself a reputation for his performance in the 2012 'Lyari grand operation' which once again aimed at clearing the area of criminals.

2011 attack by Taliban

In 2012, he escaped unhurt from a

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

attack on his house in the Defence Phase VIII area of Karachi. The attack, in which a suicide bomber detonated a truck bomb at his front gate, resulted in the death of eight people. TTP claimed responsibility for the attack as retaliation for ongoing efforts against them, including the arrest and killing of many of the terrorist organisation's members. At that time Aslam, whose home was half blown away by the blast, defiantly said he knew he was the target but it would not deter him from fighting against extremists and that he would bury them in the same ground.

Assassination

On 9 January 2014 Aslam died, along with two other officers, his guard and driver, when a bomb targeted his convoy on the Lyari expressway in Karachi. The

Mohmand Agency Mohmand District (, ) is a district in Peshawar Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas, with merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it became a district. It ...

chapter of the banned TTP claimed responsibility for the attack. Sajjad Mohmand, a spokesman for the militant group, said Aslam was targeted for carrying out operations against the TTP. "Aslam was involved in killing Taliban prisoners in CID cells in Karachi and was on the top of our hit-list," he said. In 2017 Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian national arrested in

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

on allegations of spying and terrorism, confessed in a video released by the Director General of the ISPR that the assassination of Aslam was sponsored by an Indian intelligence agency the Research Analysis Wing, on the directions of Anil Dhasmana. The validity of the video has been criticised by the Indian side, claiming it to be doctored and forced upon Jadhav.

Reactions to his death

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif praised Chaudhry Aslam and the other officers killed as martyrs and said that such attacks will not deter the law enforcement agencies in their fight against terrorism. The

Inter-Services Public Relations The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) () is the media and public relations wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It broadcasts and coordinates military news and information to the country's Media of Pakistan, civilian media and the Pakistani ...

(ISPR) issued a statement made by Army Chief General Raheel Sharif, acknowledging the contributions of police and other Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) in the fight against terror, and paying tribute to Aslam for laying down his life in the line of duty. Then Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain also condemned the killing of Aslam and his two colleagues. "SSP Chaudhry Aslam was active in fighting against terrorists who are carrying out subversive activities in Pakistan. He conducted operations against terrorists and criminal elements bravely", Altaf Hussain said.

2017 death investigation

Investigators in Karachi who were probing the death of Aslam revealed that his own driver/bodyguard was involved in the murder. The investigation team stated that the driver/bodyguard informed the terrorists of Aslams motorcades movement.

Biopic

In 2019 it was announced that an action movie based on his life would be released, '' Chaudhry - The Martyr'', directed by Azeem Sajjad. The movie was finally released in 2022. Chaudhry's role was played by his cousin Chaudhry Tariq Islam, who hails from the same village, is a Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) himself, and worked with Khan for over thirty years; the director acknowledged he had cast him because he's "well versed with han'sbody language, gestures, attitude and reflexes."Ozair Majeed (18 April 2019)
"HIP Exclusive: Tariq Islam was the Perfect Choice for Chaudhry, says Azeem Sajjad"
''HIP in Pakistan''. Retrieved 19 April 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Chaudhry Aslam 2014 deaths Pakistani police officers People from Karachi People killed by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan People from Mansehra District Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa casualties Hindkowan people Swati Pashtun tribes Pakistani terrorism victims People murdered in Karachi Terrorist incidents in Karachi 1963 births 2014 murders in Pakistan Burials at Gizri Graveyard