PESHAWAR: When a city police chief picks the wireless phone and makes a call to give instructions to his men, he intentionally or unintentionally pays tributes to two senior most officers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police who sacrificed their lives for the restoration of peace. The call-sign of the capital city police officer, a code word that is used for communication with the force on wireless phone, is Safwat.
Safwat Ghayur was the most senior officer in the KP Police who sacrificed his life in a suicide attack on his car on August 4, 2010. The offices of the city police chief and other senior officers are located at the Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines, which is the headquarters of the Peshawar Police, named after the most revered cop of the KP who was martyred along with other policemen and civilians in a suicide attack in January 2007.
“On the one hand I feel proud to be the successor of the legacy of the greats like Safwat Ghayur and Malik Saad. On the other hand I am deeply humbled by the fact that the chair I occupy is bequeathed from the icons having no comparison in bravery, courage and commitment. My commitment is the same for the protection of our people,” Mohammad Tahir, Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Peshawar told The News.
According to the official statistics of the KP Police, out of 1,644 policemen who sacrificed their lives while performing duty in different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since 1970, 1,261 were martyred during the last 11 years. Those martyred included one additional inspector general of police, two deputy inspectors general, six superintendents of police and 19 acting SPs or DSPs.
Among the junior officers, those martyred in the last 11 years include 24 inspectors, 87 sub-inspectors, 78 assistant sub-inspectors and 125 head constables. The highest share is that of constables as over 900 were martyred in terrorist attacks, suicide bombings, ambushes and target killings since 2006.
They proved to be the frontline force against terrorists and criminals during the troubled years. “We have rendered more sacrifices than any police force in the settled areas of the country. We even sacrificed officers like Safwat Ghayur and Malik Saad and hundreds of our brave senior and junior policemen from the rank of Additional Inspector General down to constables. We will fight with the same spirit and will continue to offer our lives for our beloved land in future too,” Inspector General of Police (IGP) Salahuddin Khan Mahsud told The News.
The same commitment was expressed by almost all the officers, constables and even policewomen during recent years.
The worst year for police in KP was 2009 when 207 policemen, including one SP, three DSPs, four inspectors, 18 sub-inspectors and 16 ASIs were martyred in different terrorist attacks all over the province.
According to the record of the KP Police, 28 policemen were martyred in attacks in 2006, 107 in 2007, 176 in 2008, 207 in 2009, 101 in 2010 and 148 in 2011. The number of the fallen policemen came down to 94 in 2012 but increased again to 133 in 2013 and 108 in 2014.
However, the situation has improved since 2015. The number of the fallen policemen came down to 65 in 2105 and 71 in 2016 while during the current year 23 policemen have so far lost lives in different attacks and encounters.
The trouble in KP and rest of the country during the last one decade can be gauged from the fact that 383 policemen were martyred in encounters and attacks all over the province between 1970 and 2005 but the number increased to 1,261 between 2006 and July 2017 alone.
The then DIG Bannu Region Abid Ali was the first senior officer who embraced martyrdom in December 2006. He was shot dead along with his driver by armed men on Kohat Road near Matani in Peshawar district. He hailed from Punjab.
In January 2007, the then CCPO Peshawar and one of the most revered cops, Malik Mohammad Saad, was targetted by a suicide bomber when he was inspecting security arrangements along with other senior officials for the route of a Muharram procession in Dhakki Dalgaran near Qissa Khwani.
A deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Khan Raziq and many others were also martyred in the attack. The death of Malik Saad shocked everyone in Peshawar and rest of the country.
This was just the beginning of an unending series of attacks on security personnel and civilians all over Pakistan. The senior most among the policemen martyred in attacks by the terrorists was Safwat Ghayur, an Additional IGP who was commanding the Frontier Constabulary. He was targetted by a suicide bomber soon after he left his office in the FC headquarters in Peshawar Saddar on August 4, 2010.
The KP Police observe the day of his death as Martyrs Day every year. Preparations are being made to observe the Martyrs Day on August 4 by presenting salutes at the grave of martyred officers and holding functions to pay tributes to the fallen heroes.
Among the SPs, Iqbal Marwat was the youngest who died in a suicide bombing in February 2010. Another DPO, Khurshid Khan from Lower Dir lost his life during an encounter with terrorists in March 2009.
Peshawar lost three SPs, Kalam Khan, Khursheed Khan and Hilal Haider, during 2012. Kalam Khan and Hilal Haider were targetted separately by suicide bombers while Khursheed Khan was killed during an encounter with militants in Matani.
A senior police officer from KP, Hilal Khan, along with two army officers lost their lives in an ambush in Chilas town of Gilgit-Baltistan in 2013.
ASP Salman Ayaz embraced martyrdom in Rawalpindi in 2007. Sajid Khan Mohmand posted as DPO Qilla Abdullah was martyred in a recent bombing in Chaman. He also hailed from KP. He belonged to the Mohmand tribe and was born in Shabqadar town of Charsadda district. Sajid Mohmand had joined the police force as deputy superintendent of police (DSP) in 1988.
