Naveed Sadiq was unanimously acknowledged and recognized as one of the most highly trained, diligent and skilled officers of Pakistan’s premier spy agency, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). He was equipped with modern intelligence craft, gifted with exemplary bravery and had served his country with grit and dexterity as a security personnel.
Naveed, one of the gallant soldiers of Pakistan who laid his life in the service of motherland, spent a lifetime of his youth, almost two decades in Inter-Services Intelligence and wrote a glorious chapter in the history of agency with his sweat and blood. No doubt, he was a rare combination of audacity, wisdom, intelligence and humanity by all means. He was murdered on 3rd January 2023 in a gun attack by a terrorist in Khanewal, Southern Punjab.
Naveed Sadiq, director at the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and his comrade Inspector Nasir Abbas were murdered in a gun attack by a terrorist, identified as Umar Khan s/o Muhammad Akram Khan, at Bismillah Restaurant on the National Highway in Pirowal, Khanewal.
After this high-value assassination, a relatively unknown terrorist group calling itself Lashkar-e-Khorasan immediately claimed responsibility. On the contrary, within hours, the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) cast doubts on the claim with its spokesperson Muhammad Khorasni saying the deadly attack was carried out by a “secret squad” of the TTP.
Surprisingly, Khorasni cited a “delay in information from the ground” as the reason for the delay in the TTP’s credit claim. Both the claims, however, appeared to be doubtful and vague because the suspected attacker, who earlier had tea with the two officials at the restaurant, was an “intelligence source” on al Qaeda terrorist group. Eventually, it is suspected that he might have been a double agent who was assigned to perform this task.
According to the FIR of this dismal incident, “They walked to the parking after having tea when the ‘source’ suddenly pulled out a gun and shot the ISI officers. After the deadly shooting, he escaped on a motorcycle.” Despite technological advancement, it is still a standard practice for secret agencies and intelligence members to cultivate sources among terrorist networks to frustrate their plans.
Naveed Sadiq won several laurels for his gallantry and highly productive targets as intelligence officer. Significantly, he was decorated with Sitara-e-Shujaat – Pakistan’s second highest civil award – to acknowledge his innate valour and courage by President Arif Alvi at a special Investiture Ceremony held at the Presidency in March 2021.
As a matter of rarity, ISI Director General Lt-Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum, who keeps a low profile, travelled to Lahore to join other senior military officials and government functionaries at the funeral of the martyred intelligence officials and to console the bereaved family. This was the second public appearance of the top spymaster after his unusual press conference, where he was flanked by former DG ISPR Babar Iftikhar.
A glance at Naveed Sadiq’s distinguished professional career shows he joined the police force as a sub-inspector in 2002. After appearing for a high-level exam in 2009, he was appointed to the ISI, the premier intelligence agency of the country, as Assistant Director. During his tenure, the spy agency official exposed key networks of the banned outfits. After months of efforts, he gained access to the high command of terrorist group Daesh. Lately, he was an officer Commanding of ISI’s counter-terrorism department for Multan Region. Apart of this sensitive designation, he had served the premier intelligence agency for more than 16 years.
Peeping into his glorious past heroics, we come to know that Naveed Sadiq conducted successfully multiple operations against Daesh and al Qaeda across Punjab. During the war against terrorism, he became a terrorists’ nightmare. He had singlehandedly defeated Daesh, especially in Punjab. On the night between January 14 and 15, 2021, Naveed Sadiq successfully traced the residence of Daesh’s deputy commander in Faisalabad and conducted a raid along with his team. He was an officer of extreme gallantry who neutralised the terrorists after a fierce encounter.
In Gujranwala, Naveed Sadiq bravely fought the terrorists on suicide bombing mission. He and his team risked their lives and successfully took the two suicide bombers out of the densely populated areas of the city before neutralising them. In another operation at Multan, he was the linchpin of operations against Daesh, al Qaeda, and other terrorist outfits in South Punjab. He had a very deep ingress in terrorist organisations through a source network which facilitated a number of counterterrorism operations. For this very reason, the brave son of the soil, who always fought on the front, was on the hit-list of terrorist organisations.
Apart from these valiant acts, he tracked down the network involved in the abduction of Ali Haider Gilani, the son of former prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani. He also broke the network of a banned organisation that had martyred two officers of his own unit, Inspector Umar Mubin Jilani and Sub-Inspector Yasir. Presently, the martyred official’s wife is serving as the deputy director in the counter-terrorism wing. The brave son of the soil, as was dubbed by his fellow personnel, conducted multiple operations against Daesh/Al-Qaeda across Punjab.
In short, he started his career as fighter and died as a soldier of the soil. To commemorate and acknowledge the selfless and gallant sacrifices, PM of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif recently announced conferring a civil award upon Naveed Sadiq.
