Senior J&K officer Dr Shamim Wani succumbs after battling COVID for 14 days

Srinagar: A senior Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) officer has become the latest victim of COVID-19 in Jammu and Kashmir.

Special Secretary Finance, Dr Shamim Ahmed Wani died of Covid-19 at Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu on Saturday morning, doctors at the hospital said.

Principal GMC Jammu, Dr Shashi Sudan told The Kashmir Monitor that Dr Wani had been battling Covid-19 complications for the last 14 days at the hospital.

“He had improved in between, and had even tested negative. We were preparing to shift him to a non-Covid ICU today but unfortunately he had a lot of post-Covid complications. His lungs had become very weak. A day before, we had to put him on a ventilator,” Dr Sudan said.

A resident of Ahmadnagar in Srinagar, Dr Wani had served as DC Kulgam as well in his tenure.

Born in 1966, the 1999 batch KAS officer was among the senior bureaucrats in J&K administration.

J&K Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam, expressed grief over the demise of the senior KAS officer. 

Expressing solidarity with the bereaved family, the Chief Secretary, according to a government handout, “prayed for eternal peace to the departed soul and strength to near and dear ones to bear this irreparable loss”.

Subrahmanyam remembered Dr Wani as a dedicated, soft spoken and well-meaning officer who served with commitment in his capacity as Deputy Commissioner, Kulgam; Special Secretary, Finance, and Commissioner, State Taxes among others.