Srinagar, Jul 16:
BJP leader Farooq Khan, who started his career in Jammu and Kashmir as a sub-inspector in 1984 and went on to become inspector general of police, took over as advisor to Governor Satya Pal Malik on Tuesday. Khan, the governor’s fifth advisor, is expected to focus on security and strategic affairs in keeping with the work he has done in the state in the past. “I am honoured and thankful that the prime minister and home minister gave me this task and I am sure that I will be able to perform to the best of my abilities,” the retired IPS officer, who is seen as being instrumental in breaking the backbone of militancy in the 1990s, told PTI. The other advisors to the governor are K Vijay Kumar, K Sikandan, Khursheed Ganai and K K Sharma. Khan met the governor soon after taking over and discussed issues related to development and security in the state, officials said. Officials privy to developments added that Khan, 65, enjoys the confidence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah and will be making changes in strategies to curb militancy in the state. He resigned recently as administrator in the union territory of Lakshadweep. Recruited in Jammu and Kashmir Police in 1984, Khan was allotted the IPS in 1994. He came into the limelight when he volunteered to head a special task force (STF) of the police in 1994 at a time when morale of the force was low and operations were being carried out by the Army and the BSF. Belonging to Poonch in Jammu, Khan was deputy inspector general of Jammu region and led crack teams to end a seige laid by militants at the famous Raghunath Temple in 2003.
After his retirement in 2013 as an IGP and head of the Sher-e-Kashmir Police Academy in Udhampur, Khan joined the BJP in 2014. He was probably the only leader who was made national secretary of the BJP and also made in-charge of Northeast.
A recipient of President’s police medal for meritorious service and many commendations by the army and other security agencies, Khan’s entry into the BJP was seen as a move to woo Muslim voters in Poonch and Rajouri area.
His grandfather Colonel (retd) Peer Mohammad Khan, who was in the army of Maharaja Hari Singh, was the first state president of the Jammu and Kashmir Jana Sangh.
