Srinagar, May 28: “He had that twinkle in his eye; spring in his step which could instantly tell he was different. That was why before achieving martyrdom, he gunned down a terrorist.”
This is how the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Baramulla Rayees Muhammad, describes his fallen comrade – the slain cop Mudasir Sheikh, who was killed while fighting three terrorists of JeM outfit in Kreeri area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Wednesday.
Hailing from Uri area of Baramulla district, Mudasir took a gutsy and conscientious call as he opted for a job in Jammu and Kashmir Police and decided to leave the health department where he was working as a driver.
It was this courage and determination which guided his life and finally his last journey too.
That’s why Mudasir’s father, who himself is a former police officer, despite being emotionally distraught, described his son’s death a supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. Father’s amazing spirit was evident in his single-liner as he said that he was proud of his son who served his department fearlessly and dauntlessly.
Locals in his native village too reflect upon “the courage and dedication of Mudasir which would find an expression in his every endeavour.”
“It is perhaps the vortex of hardships that people in his native village often face because of the cross border shelling that made Mudasir so tough and strong,” a friend of Mudasir in Uri remembers his buddy.
“He saw destruction; people getting killed; maimed while residential houses turning into ashes during the cross border shelling. Perhaps that’s the reason that Mudasir was so dedicated in his assigned job,” avers slain cop’s friend, while emotionally recalling his (Mudasir’s) qualities of head and heart.
Mudasir joined the Jammu and Kashmir Police at the age of 26 as a Special Police Officer (SPO), often being engaged in the areas, where there is dearth of conventional cops. However, his aim was to contribute his best to the department hence Mudasir joined the Special Operation Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and volunteered, himself, for anti terrorist operations.
The locals in Uri termed the slain cop’s death as a “huge loss for the society.” They said apart from being a great combatant, he would always help his friends and relatives in adversity.
“Despite his hectic schedule in the department, he would always find time somehow to call his friends and relatives to know their well-being. It was an amazing quality of Mudasir- an affable side of his persona,” as one of his other friends in Uri shared, one could feel a melancholic expression of irreparable loss.