CRPF officer admitted to AIIMS, critical

A CRPF officer, who was injured in a gunfight with militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bandipora district and later brought to AIIMS here, is in critical condition, hospital authorities said on Wednesday.

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) commandant Chetan Cheetah, 45, was initially admitted to a military hospital in Srinagar and later shifted to AIIMS critical care unit with multiple wounds on several parts of his body including the head, eyes and stomach.

AIIMS Spokesperson Amit Gupta said the officer, a resident of Kota in Rajasthan, was monitored overnight before being taken for surgery.

“Repeat CT scan showed raised intracranial pressure following which he was taken for surgery immediately… his condition remains critical,” Gupta said.

Gupta also said that Cheetah also had bilateral upper limbs fractures.

Cheetah was injured in the gun fight between three suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba militants and a joint team of CRPF, Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police on February 14 morning in Parraypora village, located in Bandipora district’s Hajin area.

The operation was conducted after security forces got a tip-off about the militants having holed-up in the village. Eight people — seven security personnel and one civilian — were injured in the gunfight.