After the deadly suicide bombing at the residence of Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Chaudhry Aslam, a sense of fear for the safety of their families has crept into the minds of the neighbours of ministers, intelligence officers and law enforcement agencies personnel living in the city.
At least eight persons, including three policemen and a passer-by woman and her son, died in a suicide attack on Monday targeting SSP Aslam, who survived the attack.
The majority of senior law enforcers, intelligence personnel and ministers reside in one of the posh areas of the city – Defence Housing Authority (DHA) – that has been mostly spared from the waves of violence engulfing the city. However, the people living in the neighbourhoods of security officials and other bigwigs of the administration are not feeling any safer now.
The mother and her eight-year-old son were on their way to a nearby school in the Phase-VIII of DHA. Mohid and his mother, Mumtaz, lost their lives when the suicide bomber rammed the explosives-laden vehicle into the house of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) officer.
Mohid, affectionately named ‘Sonu’, had a very special bond with his mother, which strengthened further after his parents separated their ways. Mumtaz was also very close to her son and this was the reason why she had admitted her beloved son to the same school where she was teaching.
The family members of the deceased told the media that Mohid never went outside the house without his mother but what happened on Monday was not expected.
More than six houses adjacent to SSP Aslam’s residence suffered heavy damages on their facades while their inhabitants also suffered injuries and were shifted to hospitals.
Mohammad Imran, one of the neighbours of the SSP, was visibly shaken up by the explosion even though his house remained safe.
He told Pakistan Today that his daughter was getting ready for school when the explosion took place.
“When senior security officials are not safe from bomb blasts and terror activities; who will ensure safety and security of common citizens? “Living peacefully on the same street with high-profile figures, either security officials, ministers or other VVIPs, is now becoming very difficult,” he added.
Muzaffar Charan, a neighbour of former Sindh home minister, told Pakistan Today that the people living in houses along the same street with Dr Zulfiqar Mirza had been fearful of losses to their lives and properties after the ex-minister launched a tirade against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.
In November last year, many residential buildings in the neighbourhood housing the CID head office, near the PIDC building on Club Road, had flattened and 15 lives lost when a suicide bomber blew up a truck laden with explosives into the law enforcement headquarters.
Beware of high-profile neighbours!
