KARACHI: Retired Gen Muzaffar Usmani, a former vice chief of army staff and corps commander of Karachi, was found dead in his car near Do Darya in Defence phase-VIII in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Police said that the body of the retired general was found lying on the driving seat of his car, parked off the main road near the Do Darya traffic signal.

They said that Gen Usmani might have suffered a fatal heart attack.

“The police spotted the car parked along the main road near the phase-VIII traffic signal,” said Clifton SP Imran Mirza. “Gen Usmani was lying on one side of the car’s driving seat. The policemen knocked at the window and he did not respond; they took him out of the car and found him dead. It was a heart attack that proved fatal. The family was also convinced about it and didn’t want any further medical examination.”

Gen Usmani, 76, was known for his key role in the October 1999 coup. He was serving as the Corps Commander Karachi when the then army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf overthrew then prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s government. The coup was staged after the aircraft carrying the army chief was not allowed to land in Karachi.

Gen Usmani had joined the Pakistan Army as a commissioned officer in 1966 and during a career spread over four decades, he held various command and staff appointments. He also commanded a corps-sized formation in Bahawalpur.

In 2001, Gen Usmani was appointed deputy chief of the army staff by Gen Musharraf. He retired from Pakistan Army in 2002.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2020