CRPF hero Chetan Kumar Cheeta goes home after being discharged from AIIMS.
While fighting terrorists in Kashmir's Bandipora district in February, Chetan Kumar Cheeta, a Commanding Officer of the CRPF or Central Reserve Police Force, was shot at least nine times. Even as he collapsed, he kept firing at the terrorists. After weeks in coma, the officer is being discharged from hospital today. Commandant Cheeta was shot in the head and his arms were fractured. He was in a critical state and in deep coma when he was flown to Delhi and taken to the trauma centre of AIIMS.
The doctors said that his vitals are stable now. The soldier's wife, Uma Singh, also confirmed the development to ANI, and said he is "progressively improving" and feeling fine now. "I am very proud of what Chetan has done," she said.
His survival is a miracle, a victory of willpower, said Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, after visiting him this morning.
Mr Rijiju had promised that the government would extend every possible help to Mr Cheeta and ensured that he was treated by the best doctors at the Trauma Centre.
He said, "I just saw his condition, he is doing fine. I must thank the doctors. It was difficult imagining him back to life. He is a brave officer. The doctors have done a great job. I told him (Mr Cheeta) I want to see him back in uniform. His willpower brought him back to life."
Mr Cheeta had fractures in both arms besides, multiple facial wounds. "His blood pressure was low and we had to give him drugs to stabilise it. He was then shifted to the ICU. The first surgery in Srinagar saved his life. Initially, we had apprehensions if we would be able to save his eyesight. But we did our best. His right eye is still not good," said Dr Subodh Kumar, Trauma Surgery and Critical Care, AIIMS.
Three soldiers had died and 15 security personnel were injured in a fierce gunbattle with terrorists in Hajin area of Bandipora district of Kashmir. The police and the Army had launched a joint search operation following a tip-off about the presence of terrorists in a residential house. A terrorist was also killed. The injured soldiers were airlifted to a military hospital in Srinagar.