Tearful adieu to constable killed in Valley’s Tral
SURVIVED BY A FOURYEAROLD SON, A PREGNANT WIFE AND TWO UNEMPLOYED BROTHERS, NAIK WAS HIS FAMILY’S LONE BREADWINNER
Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel on Sunday bid a tearful adieu to constable Manzoor Ahmad Naik, who was killed during the assault against militants holed up in a house in Tral area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
A wreath-laying ceremony was held for the constable, hailing from Uri area of Baramulla district, at district Police Lines here, a police official said.
Besides top police officials, education minister Altaf Bukhari laid wreath on Naik’s coffin which was draped in Tricolor, the official said.
“Naik was part of the assault team which led the gun battle at Tral in which, two terrorists, including one from Pakistan, were killed,” the official said.
AHMAD VOLUNTEERED FOR OPERATION THAT CLAIMED HIS LIFE
Manzoor lost his life in his second attempt to flush out militants holed up in a house in Tral after miraculously escaping a volley of fire the first time.
The constable came forward on two occasions after senior officers decided to bring down the house at Reshipora from which, the two militants had continued firing on the police, army and CRPF.
Undeterred by blazing fire from assault rifles, Ahmad crawled in the pitch dark and placed charges (explosives used for road construction) around the house, a senior officer recalled.
The constable came under heavy fire from an AK rifle as he started retreating towards his position but managed to escape, they said. “Koi baat nahi (don’t worry),” was his nonchalant reply when it was pointed out to him that he would have been killed and that he should not take such risks.
The explosives planted by him, though, brought down only half of the house.
This was followed by a heavy exchange of fire which continued till nearly 2am.
The situation was tense as people in the nearby locality were protesting and social media was abuzz with rumours to mobilise more people, an officer said.
The firing then stopped and following a wait of two hours, Naik again volunteered to plant explosives to bring down what remained of the house, after an army major suffered serious gunshot injuries. As he charged towards the house the second time, he was hit by a volley of bullets from a militant. Despite his wounds, Naik planted the explosives on remaining part of the house before breathing his last.
Survived by a four-year-old son, a pregnant wife and two unemployed brothers, the resident of Salamabad in Uri was the lone bread-earner for his family.
“It’s sad that we have lost a boy whose love for his duty and motherland will not go waste. The supreme sacrifice made by the constable boosts the moral of Jammu and Kashmir police. I salute the brave heart,” director general of police SP Vaid said after the wreath-laying ceremony held for the martyred policeman.