KARACHI: Mohammed Aslam Khan, the CID SP better known as Chaudhry Aslam, was killed in a bomb attack on Thursday hours after his team shot dead three suspected militants in an alleged encounter in a militancy-infested locality of Manghopir.

Two police guards also lost their lives while five cops were injured in the attack near Essa Nagri area.

Officials said the powerful bomb placed on a roadside exploded when the police officer’s caravan reached near Lyari Expressway.

An official of the bomb disposal squad said the bomb weighed about 25 kilograms and was detonated by remote control. Only explosive material was used as there was no trace of ball-bearings or nuts.

The blast was so powerful that it hurled the bullet-proof vehicle of Chaudhry Aslam into the air. The vehicle landed on another track of the road, SSP CID Operations Niaz Ahmed Khoso said. Two police mobiles were also badly damaged.

Chaudhry Aslam’s other vehicle, which is bomb-proof, had developed a fault a few days ago and was sent for repairs.

Mr Khoso, who visited the crime scene, said initial findings suggested that the bomb had been placed in a thick cemented barrier near a ramp of Lyari Expressway. When the caravan of Chaudhry Aslam reached the ramp, the bomb went off.

The officer was going to his office in Garden area from his residence in Defence Society. His body was badly damaged and one portion of his head was blown away by the massive force of the blast.

Dr Seemin Jamali, head of JPMC’s emergency unit, said Chaudhry Aslam received multiple wounds in the face, head, limbs and hands.

“Later in the evening we also received the bodies of two other policemen who were killed in the attack. They have been identified as Sub-Inspector Mohammad Kamran and Constable Farhan Ahmed,” she said.

The five injured policemen were taken to a private hospital. Condition of three of them was stated to be critical.

“We received nine injured civilians — six men and three women — at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital,” additional police surgeon Dr Abdul Haq said, adding that all of them had been discharged after treatment.

“He (SP Aslam) was a brave police officer who smashed the networks of militants,” Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon said outside the JPMC. He said that despite being on the hit list of terrorists, the officer remained undeterred.

“My brother was an extraordinarily brave man. His departure has left Karachi vulnerable,” said Chaudhry Aslam’s sister. “I saw him in morning today and he was telling his children not to go to their school as it was an extremely cold day. He took their school bags and was smiling with them,” she recalled.

Chaudhry Aslam left behind his wife, three sons and one daughter.

THIRD ATTEMPT: This was was the third attempt on his life in recent times. In the middle of last year, he survived a bomb attack in a place not far from Thursday’s bomb blast. Karachi Deputy Commissioner Matanat Ali was injured, but his police guard died.

Chaudhry Aslam survived the attack because the terrorists mistook the deputy commissioner’s vehicle for the SP’s, recalled SSP Khoso. Earlier in 2011, he had escaped an attack on his Defence Society residence that tore off the building’s façade. In his last action, SP Aslam and his team killed three militants allegedly belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan in Manghopir area in the wee hours of Thursday. The CID police team raided a hideout of the militants on the Northern Bypass after a tipoff.

The suspects opened fire and injured a policeman, according to the CID police spokesperson. Police returned fire and injured three militants. Four of them managed to escape.

The wounded suspects were taken to the Civil Hospital where they were pronounced dead. They were identified as Shahabudin, 23, Imran Pasha, 30, and Siraj Jan alias BBC, 34.

The CID police claimed that they were planning attacks on the coming Chup Tazia and 12th Rabi-ul-Awal processions.

Before his death, Siraj Jan reportedly confessed to have carried out a bomb attacks on an Imambargah in Orangi Town during the Chehlum of Hazrat Imam Hussain last month. Four passers-by were killed and 15 others wounded when back-to-back bombs exploded outside the Imambargah.