Srinagar: Union Home Minister Amit Shah Thursday visited the residence of Jammu and Kashmir Police officer Arshad Ahmed Khan, who died after being injured in a militant attack on June 12 in Anantnag district, and assured his family that the government will look after them.
Shah, accompanied by officials, went to the Bal Garden residence of Khan near the city’s Civil Lines area and met his parents Mushtaq Ahmed Khan and Mehbooba Begum, wife, brother and children Uhbaan (5 years) and Daamin (18 months).
The home minister came and offered his condolence, and assured that the government will look after the family of the brave son of the country, a kin of Arshad Khan, who was present at the meeting, said.
Shah also handed a letter of commendation, highlighting the sacrifice of the police officer, to members of the family and it was eventually in the hands of 18-month-old Daamin.
On his official Twitter handle, Shah said Khan’s “sacrifice for the security of our nation has saved many lives. The entire nation is proud of Arshad Khans valour and courage”.
Khan, 37, was injured in the militant attack on June 12 and later flown to Delhi in an air ambulance for specialised treatment. However, he succumbed to injuries at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on June 16.
Five CRPF personnel were killed in the militant attack, in which a lone Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militants targeted a patrol team of the paramilitary force.
Khan, the Saddar SHO in Anantnag, reached the site soon after.
The moment he stepped out of his official bulletproof vehicle, along with his service rifle, a barrage of bullets were fired by the militants. One bullet ricocheted from the butt of his service rifle and hit his liver and duodenum, officials had said.
Even in that condition, the officer kept firing bullets at the terrorist before he collapsed, they had said.
Khan was appointed sub-inspector in the Jammu and Kashmir Police in 2002 and served in various important capacities.
During the 2016 agitation following the death of Burhan Wani, the poster boy of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Khan, who was then posted as Station House Officer of Bijbehara, single-handedly cleared the highway and ensured that there was no traffic restriction.
Khan, whose ancestors are from Peshawar in Pakistan, never succumbed to political pressure and was shifted from Bijbehara prematurely after he had rounded up many so-called activists of a political party.
