Rajnath thanks AIIMS doctors for CRPF commander’s recovery

New Delhi, April 5 (IANS) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday thanked the doctors at the AIIMS for the recovery of CRPF commandant Chetan Kumar Cheetah who went into deep coma two months ago after sustaining nine gunshot wounds during a gunfight with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Fortune favours the brave. Extremely happy to know that ‘Cheetah’ has made a miraculous recovery. I thank the team of doctors who have helped Chetan Cheetah in his recovery. Hope to see ‘Cheetah’ back in action soon," the Minister tweeted.

Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Trauma Centre, where Cheetah spent a month in ICU, told IANS that he is fit to be discharged.

"Cheetah has gained consciousness. He is talking. We are planning to discharge him by this (Wednesday) evening," said Dr Amit Gupta, Professor of Trauma Surgery and Critical Care at the centre, adding the recovery was no less than a miracle.

The 45-year-old was initially admitted to a military hospital in Srinagar and later shifted to the AIIMS with multiple wounds on several parts of his body including the head, an eye and stomach.

Cheetah was injured in a gunfight between three suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba militants and a joint team of Central Reserve Police Force, the Indian Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police on February 14 morning in Parraypora village, located in Bandipora district’s Hajin area.

The operation was conducted after security forces got a tip-off about the militants having holed-up in the village. Eight people — seven security personnel and one civilian — were injured in the gunfight.